


Wake Me Up [When It's All Over]

by TheOneWhoStayed



Series: If You Wanna Be My Hero [Then I'd Be your Girl] [1]
Category: Split (2016)
Genre: Burning slower than a brick, Can be considered, Canon Rewrite, Casey Cooke Has Powers, Developing Relationship, Empath Casey Cooke, Lima Syndrome, Mild Gore, Morally Grey Casey, Multi, Nothing Worse than Canon, Rape/Non-con Elements, Stockholm Syndrome, This is a place for me to read this, no beta we die like men, nothing graphic, start of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-24 07:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneWhoStayed/pseuds/TheOneWhoStayed
Summary: Casey Cooke frequently wondered where her life was headed, it always seemed to be going a million miles a second and she was constantly just a passenger watching her life go by from the window.Most girls her age were pursuing their passions, getting ready for college and discovering who they would become, but Casey found herself caught in a whirlpool. The only thing she was sure she was good at was knowing exactly how to piss people off, and how to convince them to leave her alone.AKA The Casey is an Empath AU that i'm storing here for myself





	1. She Has Fire In Her Soul [Prologue]

**Author's Note:**

> OK I'm storing this here for posterity.
> 
> This is 100% finished it's like 26k by my reckoning and they don't even fucking kiss like i wanted them too. This is all set up for and Anti-Hero Roadtrip AU [Stick with me here]
> 
> This is a Casey x ALL THE ALTERS [Minus Hedwig cause he's 9] AU 
> 
> This is a PRE-Relationship fic
> 
>  
> 
> Nifty Fact for later: Daisies are a symbol of purification and used to symbolize the gifter swearing and oath to keep the secrets of the recipient.

Casey Cooke frequently wondered where her life was headed, it always seemed to be going a million miles a second and she was constantly just a passenger watching her life go by from the window.

Most girls her age were pursuing their passions, getting ready for college and discovering who they would become, but Casey found herself caught in a whirlpool. The only thing she was sure she was good at was knowing exactly how to piss people off, and how to convince them to leave her alone.

It wasn't exactly a special skill, to be able to read people and convince them to either scream at you until you got detention, or ignore you and pretend you didn't exist. But it was what she was good at, even if it didn't always help when her Uncle John got in his moods.

The skill was useful at school when she didn't want to go home though, it's how she spent most of her days in detention, knowing how to push a teacher over the edge just so, but pulling them back before they suspended her and forced her to stay home for a week.

While she also did her best to be ignored by all the other kids in her class, going to detention almost every other day was going to draw attention, regardless of how good she was at deflecting nosy people from her business.

Despite it all, most of the perfect kids in her class with their perfect parents and their perfect lives left her the hell alone. After all, she was the weirdo who wore all black and 8 long sleeves in the summer when it was 70 degrees and always got the history teacher Mr. Reynolds so angry he turned puce.

Casey always took every opportunity she could to avoid her Uncle, that's how she ended up here, at the King Of Prussia Mall at a Birthday Party that she'd been given a pity invite to.

Claire Benoit had thought she was being so opaque with her smile that almost reached her eyes as she invited the Art Class' pariah. But Claire was blonde and popular and had a Dad who gave her a everything, she worked a job on top of being on the varsity swim team. The girl was a shoe in for prom queen and Casey could feel the girl practically screaming in her mind 'SAY NO' as she invited her to the party her family was hosting.

Casey was aware that she was probably the only person in their art class that the blonde didn't actually want there but that wasn't her problem, because regardless of what Claire wanted, the Art Class Pariah was 100% more willing to put up with the awkward atmosphere her presence would bring to a birthday party than the place she was supposed to consider home.

As far as she could tell, it was your standard birthday party for a girl who was turning 18. Not that Casey had been to many herself, her own birthday was passed with barely any fanfare, a small gift of a charm necklace she'd never ever wear along with dinner at a local diner was her standard birthday party.

Claire's party was nice, and everything a birthday party should be for someone like her. There was plenty of gifts, friends, and genuine smiles.

That was probably why Casey was sitting just off set from the rest of the party, staring out the window and out towards the parking lot. The genuine fun and happy atmosphere was almost smothering.

It wasn't a surprise though when Claire came up to her and said, "We're gonna start wrapping up, um... You should call whoever you need to so you can get picked up."

Casey nodded in recognition of the statement and pulled out her phone, she scrolled through the contacts, of which there wasn't many. A group chat from their history final that was about to start,the school's office, the office at her uncles work, all the default contacts and finally her Uncle's actual cellphone.

She stared down the number for what was only a moment but felt like eternity, finally she only pretended to dial the number, and put it to her ear. Casey noted she wasn't very far from the rest of the group but she was far enough that she didn't need to be too convincing for her fake phone call.

Pretending to hang up, she decided that if he actually called, she'd just say the party went on longer than expected and maybe she'd take the bus and wander a Wal Mart for a while before heading home.

Semblance of a plan in place she walked over to Claire and her Father, Casey did her best to project a casual earnestness with her body language as she slouched a bit and as was as blase as she could be when she said, "Car's broke down, I'll probably just take the bus."

It took everything in her not to frown when Mr. Benoit just smiled and said, "No problem, I'll give you a ride, Claire's almost saved up enough for a car and I won't have many chances to drive you all around anymore!"

They were oozing obligatory politeness, and Casey tried to object but Claire beat her to the punch saying, "It's fine! How else are you going to hear jokes that only my Dad thinks are funny?"

A feeling of 'That's settled' filled the atmosphere and Casey threw out her previous plans with a nod. They meant well. It wasn't their fault, they thought she was like them.

Making an attempt at being polite, Casey helped gather up the left overs from Claire's cake and carried a bag of the clam-shells during what would have been a silent walk across the parking lot if Claire and Marcia hadn't been giggling the whole time about whatever had caught their fancy. Mr. Benoit seemed genuinely happy to be escorting all three girls so that was something at least.

As they reached the car, Mr. Benoit loaded his bags into the trunk then with a smile he relived Casey of her's and said, "You all get in the car I'll finish up here."

Breezily the two other girls slipped into the backseat to finished their conversation and Casey unceremoniously plopped herself into the front passenger seat. Ever conscious of her surroundings she glanced into the review mirror and began buckling herself in. A second look into the mirror saw spilled clam-shells of leftovers and the sight of it caused Casey's blood to run cold.

Her instincts instantly kicked into overdrive as the driver's side door opened, slowly she turned and her gaze met a man in glasses who was decidedly not Mr. Benoit.

The atmosphere was thick and her throat closed as she stared at the stranger. The man took out a mustard yellow handkerchief and began gingerly cleaning the dashboard of trash.

Claire, perfect Claire of course spoke first and with the most outraged tone, "Excuse me sir, you've got the wrong car!"

Casey wanted to tell her to shut up but the man was quick and in one swift move place a medical mask over his own face and sprayed what had to be some sort of chloroform in both girls faces as they screamed. Logically, Casey knew that she should run in the moment, but her body never listened in the past, and neither did it obey her now until it was over and both girls in the back seat were silence into an unnatural slumber.

Finally, as if her hand only just comprehended the danger she was in, it moved to pop open the passenger door, Casey's eyes never leaving the stranger.

Her actions, had caused the car to begin to make the steady low ringing to alert of the door being ajar. The man turned to face her, his face stone and it felt as if he was simply put upon by her actions.

To Casey he seemed off, almost out of his element, as if he wasn't naturally a predator but had chosen to be.

In a moment he had once again dawned his mask and Casey's heart pounded as she was met with his spray and then darkness.


	2. Grace In Her Heart

There is a pressure in her head blurring Casey's vision as she realized she was coming to. Blearily she could feel herself being pulled somewhere, her surroundings were bleak and lit with faded yellow light. Struggling to wake up she was once again pulled back into the darkness.

The next time she is pulled to the surface by a dark and unseen tide, Casey can see the man, he was carrying one of the others and laying her down. Her throat constricted and her limbs felt like lead as she was taken by the inky blackness of her mind once more.

Her mind was clouded and full of cotton when the darkness finally receded from it.

The residual affects of the chemical paired with the panicked cocktail of the shrill and panicked state of Marcia and Claire's voices was enough to make Casey's head feel like she'd been dropped from a skyscraper and then hit by a bus.

Immediately her mind returned to crisis mode. Internally she did the same checks as she always did. It was mildly surprising there where no outstanding pains save for the headache she was nursing. After completing a physical check, Casey began taking in their surroundings.

It was almost like a basement, with two cots and a small white and pristine bathroom. Claire and Marcia had huddled up on the cot opposite Casey and were chattering in low and frightened tones.

Almost distantly she hear Clair speaking, "We just woke up here. What the hell is going on? What are we doing here?

"What happened to my Dad?!"

The odd spot of yellow on their pillows caught Casey's eye, there was also one in the bathroom in a small vase on the sink. Flowers, an odd choice for a prison.

Doing her best to swallow the lump in her throat as Claire's stream of consciousness seemed to focus as she asked more directly towards Casey, "Do you know what happened to my Dad?"

As if summoned by her words a noise sounded, like a shutting door, just outside the room. Casey could hear foot steps drawing closer until finally after the sound of a lock tumbling, he entered the room.

It was the same man from before, he wore a button down with and slacks, both black. His head was shaved and his piercing blue eyes were only just barely obscured by his squared glasses.

He was large in that he was tall and broad shouldered, he also moved almost mechanically as he set up the short mahogany stool he'd carried into the room. Almost absently he withdrew the same mustard yellow cloth from his pocket and wiped down the stool before sitting.

An action that Casey paired with him cleaning the trash in the car in her mind and concluded he was at the very least germa-phobic

He seemed to be inspecting them, and Casey felt a sense of surety what he was there for, part of her was comforted by the fact that she had already curled into herself, and didn't have to move.

Marcia seemed to realize the nature of his gaze as well but foolishly tried to adjust her mini skirt to cover her thigh, instantly drawing his focus.

The fear was palpable no one deserved what was no doubt coming and Casey knowing just what it was like, felt moved with pity at the raw intensity of it. It was stupid and it was a level of self destruction she wasn't used to, but Claire and Marcie were innocent and untainted.

In the end she didn't know what made her do it, maybe it was the toxic fear and chaos that the other two girls were projecting, perhaps it was because her own training taught her if you were compliant it was usually quicker, no matter the reasoning, Casey unfurled her body and turned towards their captor and did her best to project everything you shouldn't.

She knew how to play the game.

Immediately the man's gaze snapped toward's Casey and she could practically feel his hunger clawing at her.

"I Pick you first." their captor announced as he pointed at Casey, then proceeded to fold his stool and place it outside the room.

Marcia and Claire began whimpering , a noise that was slowly getting louder and louder.

As for Casey she felt sick. Had she really just offered herself as a sacrifice in exchange of the innocence of two girls who might as well hate her? To a stranger no less, this wasn't the devil she knew, he could want almost anything. To top it off her bladder was empty, she had made sure of that before they left the restaurant, after all she wasn't planning on going home.

In only a moment he was back and approaching her the man reached out to grab her arm, seemingly to drag her out by force, but Casey's brain had been in survival mode for most of her life, so she stood and presented herself as obediently as she possibly could all the while she could feel her body tensed and preparing itself for a shot of adrenaline.

Her captor grabbed her arm and gently pulled her towards the door, Casey followed behind and her brain began forming a strategy.

She could get a look around the new room and find something to fight if it came down to it, while he was big, Uncle John was bigger and she could take a hit. He could have his way with her then while she was unconscious if that's what he liked, at least then she wouldn't have to deal with the memory of it.

On the other hand if it didn't come down to that, she could possibly be 100% compliant with whatever weird shit he wanted and Casey would then have a bit of his trust and a chance to maybe later figure out more about their situation.

As they crossed the threshold of the room Casey had woke up in, the man locked the door once more and turned to her. His eyes appraising her, Claire it seemed had gotten over her fear and shock and suddenly began screaming Casey's name through the door.

On her and their captor's side however it was silent.

Finally he spoke, "I just want you do dance for me, can you do that?"

Casey could feel her heart pounding in her chest and nodded, there were days at home where she was forced to do things, to survive, things that made her feel like everything that happened was her fault because she'd taken part.

She was under no illusions that this would only be a dance, but she'd do it, she'd dance and keep her eyes moving around the room looking for anything that would help her.

Doing the best to keep her breath steady and project calm, Casey pushed back the knowledge that her hands were shaking and her throat was closing up, then began swaying her hips to the sound of what must have been a ventilation system and the muffled screams of the girls in the other room.

Shuffling her feet, swaying and spinning, all she could find that was potentially useful was a computer and a desk with untold potential in the drawers.

The man himself seemed silently enraptured by her awkward movements and unskilled ambling.

Finally it actually started when he spoke again, "I can barely see you, take off your jacket and your shirt."

Inhaling sharply Casey stopped to do as instructed, when he said, "No, Keep dancing."

She felt like her soul was leaving her and her mind rebelled and screamed about how stupid she'd been for practically volunteering for this. Casey removed her coat slowly, he reached for it and took it off her hands before folding it and placing it on the floor. They repeated the process with her flannel, finally she took off her black long-sleeve to reveal her white one underneath.

The man made a groan of frustration, it was almost full of delight, his breath had grown quicker through the process and his voice was thick as he said, "You wear a lot of layers."

Casey's last top was semi sheer, the way he'd said it and hadn't demanded it as well told her he wanted to to draw out her humiliation.

That was probably why she panicked when he stood swiftly and grabbed the hem of her white top, and violently pulling it over her head himself. Aggressively he grabbed her hip, his thumb on her scars and everything in her mind went absolutely haywire and screamed that he needed to let go.

This was not the game, he was breaking the rules, he wasn't supposed to touch her yet.

Everything in Casey's mind coalesced into one thought, STOP. It was like every thing went red.

\--  
\--

When Casey Cook was 13 years old she was more aware of the world than most of the kids her age.

She was interacting with the world, afraid that if she touched it too much that it might make the fault lines that she had begun carving into her own skin with her x-acto razor would swell and cause her to crack so horrendously that people would be able to tell how broken and wrong her existence was.

So she began cleaning, to focus on the here, the now right in front of her. Uncle John never cared that much if the house was in disarray unless he was having his friends over for football or they were hosting a cook out.

Even then, he'd normally give her a few days before so she'd know to start tidying up. That was the thing with John Cooke, for the longest time there was two of him.

The one who had friends and treated Casey like she was the last precious part of his big brother left on the earth. Then there was the half that hunted her liked an animal.

During the day he was the first version of himself, and Casey could almost forget the abomination he had committed. At night when Casey should have been safely tucked into her bed, he would be the second part of himself as he slowly opened the door and his shadow crept across her childhood bedroom.

Everything changed when she was thirteen.

First she started cleaning.

She cleaned and scrubbed and while it wasn't obsessive, it was more an escape, for her body to work and her mind to be freed from the reality she lived in. The result was that the house was in tip top shape at all times, she was less suffocated when she was alone in the clean house. It wasn't a good change, but it was positive.

The rest of it fell apart though.

Casey had been cleaning the sink, she had chicken wings in the oven and had prepared game time snack for her uncle's Superbowl party. She had finished the dishes and was cleaning the sink.

It was early afternoon and Uncle John had crept into the kitchen and watched her, his gaze was heavy but it was daytime, he was the first version of himself, or so she had thought at the time.

Her focus was on cleaning the sink when he came behind her and grabbed her hip and pressed his thumb against her fresh scars.

He told her she was 13 and a perfect home maker, such a beautiful 'woman' now.

She was dragged down to the floor.

Only one of them screamed.

Afterwards she took the wings out of the oven and finished cleaning the sink.

It was this memory that came to her unbidden as she pulled away far too easily and her Captor pulled his hand from her as if she'd burned him. His eyes wide and focused on her stomach like it held secrets untold.

Her scars were more numerous now and the ones from her x-acto were joined by burns from matches and the occasional cigarettes. Casey's instincts caused her to curl in on herself, she knew she looked pathetic, broadcasting for him to stay away as if it would stop him.

Casey kept an eye on her captor, and unexpectedly, he seemed unsteady, suddenly it was like the world had shifted. The man quickly almost as if in a hurry grabbed her pile of folded shirts and handed all of them back to her, his eyes wide and anxious as if the devil himself were on his heels.

"Go back to the room, go back." His voice is no longer aroused and heavy, but tight and it almost trembled. The urgency of it made her skin crawl.

While shaken by the sudden turn of events, Casey wasn't exactly going to complain that he had decided not to touch her. Her captor quickly unlocked the door, still almost frantic and Casey ran into the room her muscles finally relaxing a fraction.

Marcia and Claire, quickly met her and in an attempt to comfort Casey crowded her.

"What did he want?", Claire frantically pressed, "Did he hurt you?!"

"I'm fine!", Casey quickly pulled her white long-sleeve back on and prayed silently that the other girls had not seen her scars, the ones that had been so apparently disgusting that their would be rapist wouldn't even touch her.

"He just wanted me to dance," Casey assured them as best as she could while her own body was still trembling from the experience as well as the memory, "He wanted me to dance and to take my shirt off, he sent me back after."

The girls look doubtful, after all, Casey had probably been alone with the man for a long period of time.

She wouldn't try to convince or comfort them, after all he'd probably come for one of them next and while it was true for her that he had just wanted a dance, the other girls were innocent and unblemished there was no doubt he would want more from them.


	3. Starlight In Her Veins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scenes with Dr. Fletcher are HEAVILY derivative because I forgot the content of most of them and had to watch them again, I also have dumb bitch disease so once I see a scene I want to practically transcribe it.
> 
> Everything else was rewritten from memory though, so there's that.
> 
> THAT BEING SAID, there is a part with Dr. Fletcher in this chapter so that's why i'm explaining this, this chapter's isn't actually that bad but the next one is.

He wasn't in ultimate crisis mode, no, things weren't that bad. That was reserved for when Kevin was doing something monumentally stupid and he had to come in and salvage everything.

But this was a form of crisis.

Dennis had taken more girls than previously planned. He had assumed that since the two were completely impure and unworthy, that the third, who had hitched a ride with them was as well.

He simply figured it was collateral damage, and she would simply be welcomed by Patricia as an almost a bonus offering for The Beast.

And yes, he had failed, he had given into the obsessive thoughts that he had fought with for so long and forced her to dance and strip for him. It was wrong, it was wrong and he almost felt sick thinking about it now.

So how was he going to confess this misdeed to Patricia? How was he to tell her he'd made such a grave and gross error? That he kidnapped a pure girl with scars that marred her flesh that were too much like the ones that adorned their own thighs from the nails and then razors Dennis had tried so hard to keep from a young and suffering Kevin.

How was he to confess that he'd then made her dance, and been part of the suffering and humiliation of a girl as pure and rare as black Painite.

No matter how many times he went over the information in his head, the conclusion was the same. Patricia had to be informed of his misstep. She would then ask how he discovered that she was in fact pure. Then, Dennis would disclose his indignity. He would have to suffer Patricia's disappointed diatribe, endure whatever upsets she presented at his behavior.

Dennis would have to humble himself and confess it all now, lest his folly be discovered later by The Beast, or worse, risk the death of a soul that had been purged of all impurities.

Trepidation was not in his nature, so Dennis approached Patricia in their space with their chairs, brought her to join him in the light and told her concisely.

"I've made an error."

  
She turned to him her eyes deceptively gentle in their focus, "What is this error you've made?"

  
Her voice was soft, it offered understanding and under most circumstances it would be welcoming, but today he was bearing bad news.

"When I went to retrieve the girls, " Dennis did his best to leave behind any superfluous and overly decorative information, "There was an extra."

Patricia seemed to detect he was not done as she patiently awaited the rest of his story.

Dennis swallowed thickly, "Since bringing them to their room I've discovered the additional girl is pure."

Now, Patricia's normally welcoming demeanor shifted, "And how did you discover this?"

"I-" He stumbled momentarily on his words, this was the only topic he ever found difficult to broach and Patrica's eyes darkened in understanding before he even continued, "I made her dance for me."

"I hope that is all you had the poor child do Dennis." Patricia's gentle voice gained a sharp edge as Dennis inhaled sharply to calm his own churning gut.

"I made her remove clothing, but I- I - I grabbed her, I saw her scars. When I realized what they were I sent her back, I think I triggered her, she was so scared." His voice was thick with his own guilt and grief that had built after his lapse in judgment.

Patricia closed her eyes and made a low humming noise before meeting his gaze firmly, "You are not to touch her, or any of them again, what if she had been impure, you could have spoiled her with your impulses."

Dennis nodded, the sickness in his belly growing worse as she continued, "What more, you took part in humiliating a poor, likely broken girl!"

It made his skin crawl to think about the fear in here absent eyes, as if they were remembering an entirely different demon than the one that Dennis himself lived with in his head.

He steeled himself for this next part, it's like the putrid icing on a grotesque cake, "There's something else"

  
"So help me Dennis," Patricia's voice rose in frustration, "What else have you done that is so unthinkable that it must be introduced by that confession?!"

"She was strange." The sentence was said evenly and Dennis had a hard time trying to expound, "It was like she could draw you in or push you out. I was going to pick a different girl but she did something, it made me want her instead.

  
"And when I touched her, it wasn't just her, i felt scared too. But it wasn't fear the fear I remember from Kevin's because of his Mother, it wasn't more and it wasn't less. It just wan't his fear. It almost hurt."

This piece of information seemed not to anger the woman but now there was intrigue plainly written on her face at the new piece of knowledge.

"Are you saying she has some sort of ability? A Power?" Patricia drew out her words curiously. She suddenly shifted the conversation, "Think not on this now.

"We will discuss this further after you meet with Dr. Fletcher, along with what to do with the girl. She shouldn't be kept with the sacred food, it would be unconscionable."

Finally it was like a band on his lungs had been removed, "Of course, I need to change."

"Don't think this is over, we have to discuss what you will be doing for almost ruining the offering." Patricia informed him, then made a face like she had seen a particularly nasty bug, "But go, clean up this mess the others are causing."

 

Dennis felt her leave his presence and he took another grounding breath before beginning to change into Barry's clothes.

The mess Patricia had spoken of was the fact that while Dennis was sleeping, Hedwig wasn't the only one taking the light. No, it seemed one ,or more, of the other's had decided to try and sneak a message to their psychiatrist: Dr. Fletcher.

Dennis felt the message was short and vague enough to be brushed off, but it could lead to more problems down the line should the others continued to meddle.

It could lead Dr. Fletcher to grow suspicious and find out what they were planning before all the pieces were in place. That was bigger a crisis that did not bear thinking about, after all they liked Dr. Fletcher. She was fighting for them to show the world what the truly were, that they weren't a mistake but a revelation of the potential of all humankind.

And as kind and good as she was, her way wasn't working fast enough to build a world that was safe for Kevin to live in without fear. That's what all this was for after all, wasn't it? To build a world that Kevin could share the light with them with out any fear or trembling.

The Beast was their answer. To keep Kevin safe from things not even Dennis could protect him from.

\--  
\--

  
If Dennis had only the space of one word to describe Barry, he would use the word: superfluous.

  
It wasn't hard to pretend to be the other man, no, it also wasn't easy. Dennis supposed his ability to play act as Barry came from knowing the man completely and thoroughly.

He only hoped that would be enough to convince Dr. Fletcher as well.

Dennis had dawned Barry's preferred fashion of a beanie and what he considered 'stylish' clothing. Of Course, Dennis had also pilfered some of the other man's sketches, designs of clothing he had plans to make in the future.

The plan was simple.

Dennis kept repeating it in his head over and over like a mantra as he headed up the stairs to Dr. Fletcher's home and office. He had been impersonating the way Barry walked all the way up the street from the bus stop and maintained it all the way to her door.

Dr. Fletcher was an older woman who was lovely and had a bloom of health that showed she had taken care of herself since she was a young woman.

Dennis had never formally met her, so he did his best to greet her as casually as he could with Barry's sketches and Barry's voice.

The good Doctor didn't even bat an eye. Good.

"Those are just some sketches!" Dennis enthused as he wandered the apartment and adjusted a book that was sticking out a bit too far from the book case, "They're not final or anything but I really wanted you to see what I've got!"

It was a nightmare, if one was polite they would say the places was homey and well lived in. Dennis would say it was a professional space that had been cluttered with too many personal bric-a-brac.

Dr. Fletcher relaxed in her wing-back chair and dawned her glasses before smiling and then began carefully inspecting the pieces, "I was surprised to get your e-mail, it isn't like you to make such an emergency appointment, tell me Barry is something bothering you?"

Doing his best to maintain the joviality that always came natural to Barry, Dennis turned to her and smiled, "Nah! Nah! I was just, we've been a little down but last night I slept really well and we feel better!"

He moved the vase at the window clockwise for optimum symmetry with the room. The plants were crowded and wild it was a quick fix to a larger problem.

Dr. Fletcher seemed to appraise him, "You know these are spectacular! They're exactly what a socialite would pay thousands of dollars for just to wear once at a charity Gala."

The compliment seemed genuine and Dennis just bashfully ducked his head, "C'mon you don't meant that they're a'ight."

"Really!" She confirmed and continued her perusal of the sketches.

Dennis adjusted the candy dish, just so, the whole office was a mess.

It was another 15 minutes before she let him go. He was so desperate to get out that he had almost forgot Barry's artwork. Dr. Fletcher had kindly reminded him, "you're usually so protective of these!"

If Kevin's head had hair, Dennis would have started pulling it out at that point.

In the end, he left the apartment with Dr. Fletcher none the wiser of the fact that she hadn't seen Barry since their previously schedule session.

The Cab ride back was as insufferable as normal and by the time he reached their home Dennis was tire of it all and let Patricia take the light.

Patricia came into the world and promptly made her way to the wardrobe room. It wouldn't for her to wander around in Barry's clothe's after all, not when she didn't need to.

Easily she slipped into her red long-sleeve and a long black skirt that reached her ankles. Around her neck a gold chain and a simple red pendant.

She was the kind of person to keep things simple and get directly to business, as tired as he was, Patricia tugged at Dennis to join her and asked,"How do you purpose we go forward in dealing with the Pure girl?

"We can't risk her freedom but we can't cage her up with the Sacred food on top of everything else the poor thing may have suffered."

Dennis' reply was weary but prompt, "We'll have to separated her but that'll take a bit of work."

"That's a start," Patricia appraised, "It will take a small amount of time but-"

Her sentence was suddenly cut off as the girls locked in the room just beyond the wardrobe began caterwauling.

"Good heavens!" Patricia exclaimed at the noise, "Dennis, are you sure there are only three?!"

If he was a lesser man, Patricia knew Dennis would have rolled his eyes, as it was he was tired from everything that had been happening, "Yes."

Patricia let him slip away and made her way towards the door after grabbing the keys, she raised her voice in order to reach the girls beyond the door, with words meant to calm, "Settle down now."

It was time to learn more about the mess of a situation Dennis had got them into.


	4. Gold Dust In Her Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Matter what I do I always have to fix the spacing on these little bastards when I upload them! That's what I get for writing in freaking WordPad.

Managing to put all of her shirts back on was the easy part of returning to the room she had woken up in.

Facing the stares of Claire and Marcia was the hard part. Casey could easily tell they were partially worried and partially disgustedly mortified. Their minds were probably trying to figure out what their abductor had done to her.

They weren't asking though and that was alright to her, she wasn't going to talk about it again either way.

The tension in the room was broken when a commotion was heard in the room that the man had dragged Casey into, the room with the computer that was full of clothing.

Claire and Marcia instantly sprang up and practically leaped towards the door at the sound of a woman's voice.

Casey wandered over more cautiously as Claire declared, "There's a woman! It's another person!"

It was Marcia who began screaming first, "Help! We're in here! We're trapped!"

Claire joined her crying out, "Help us! Please Help us!"

Casey wanted to warn them, there was a chance this was an accomplice, not even an idiot would let someone in so close to their captives, but suddenly the woman's voice rose and cut across the noise,

"Good heavens!" She exclaimed, "Dennis, are you sure there are only three?!"

Her mind grabbed onto the name, Dennis, he must have been the one who made her dance. Casey's theory was confirmed when his voice replied, "Yes."

The woman's footsteps carried her closer and Casey cleared the door at the sound of key's as the woman called out to them, "Settle down now!"

It sounded like it was meant to be comforting, but Casey doubted she'd have anything good to share with them.

Marcia and Claire were quickly ushered back as the door opened and they were met with a heart stopping surprise.

Casey's ears picked up Marcia whimper a small, "What the fuck"

It was the same man, except... There was a big yellow question mark blaring in Casey's brain. Because she was good at people, she could see through them like a pain of glass, this wasn't the man even if the person in front of her bore his face.

"I'm Patricia." The apparent woman introduced herself, "And I do not want you to worry, he's not allowed to touch you, he knows what you're here for."

She smiled in assurance, "He listens to me."

Casey felt confusion flood through her body, because her mind was tripping up on Patricia's face. It was soft and gentle, nothing like the hard and aggressive lines that belonged to Dennis, but there was something else, something Casey couldn't place and that was different. Like for the first time in her life her intuition was being tricked.

Or was it?

This possibly new person then turned their gaze to Casey and she immediately did her best to project neutrality. Casey needed to make sure this situation wasn't escalated up or down before she could ascertain if this was in fact a trick or truly a brand new player as her mind was telling her they were.

"Of course, I would hate to hassle you dear," the full force of Patricia's gaze was on Casey now, "But I'd like to speak to you if you'd come with me."

Patricia then offered her hand gracefully and palm up.

There was the distinct feeling that this was actually an offer and not a command, it made Casey feel as if her mind was going haywire from the episode with Dennis.

Being diplomatic and seeing an opportunity to gain trust once more, Casey gently took the proffered hand and prayed that this was not Dennis playing a filthy trick to get her alone again. Of course, regardless of her hopes, her hands still trembled and her throat once a gain began constricting as Patricia began guiding her out of the room and locked the door behind her.

It was a shock that this possible new Captor began taking her beyond the previous room and down a hall. Casey was sure it was kidnapper 101 to show the captive as little of their environment as possible, but she kept quiet and did her best to catalog the route.

For one bone rattling moment Casey thought she was being taken to the bedroom for Dennis to finish what he started.

In the end, Patricia wound up leading her to a small kitchenette and motioned for Casey to sit at the table. Doing as she was asked, Casey tried to keep exuding calm and sat as gingerly as she was capable of within the context of their interaction.

Patricia sat across from her and smiled, "Go on, ask your question."

The offer was almost too much and Casey choked but Patricia was patient as the younger finally pushed words passed her blocked throat even then, they rattled, "You're not the man who took us."

With an almost imperceptible shake of her head Patricia chuckled, "No I am not, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience and stress this all must be causing you."

Casey nodded and tried to process the fact that her mind had sensed no falsehood in that statement. Suddenly she swallowed down her anxiety and did her best to nod in acceptance of this new fact. The only part that had her at a loss now was the apology.

"Now it's my turn to ask a question," Patricia continued to smile and Casey had a thought that perhaps it was supposed to be disarming.

"Tell me," Patricia started, "If you are comfortable sharing it, can you relate to me what occurred with Dennis when you woke up here?"

"Dennis is the man that took us.," Casey said it like a statement but it was more of a begging for clarification. The woman nodded so Casey continued,  
"He came in and chose me to leave with him to the outer room, and then he asked me to dance for him."

Casey tried to relate the event as calmly as she could but her skin was already beginning to crawl and her heart was beating like the wings of a hummingbird.

Patricia closed her eyes and laid a hand on the table in a gesture to stop the story, "No, that much Dennis has confessed to me, I had hoped to find out the reason for your reaction. You see, your friends would have cried or fought fruitlessly. But you didn't, you were calm about the affair were you not? You were prepared to carry out his wishes up until he laid his hands on you, then you tried to hide. Why is that?"

It was like her soul had been laid bare before her and it was almost worse than having Dennis touch her scars. Casey's mind scrambled for an answer, she desperately looked for the answer Patricia wanted to hear, and instead she foolishly said, "They're not my friends, I just needed a ride home, I didn't even want to go with them."

The woman in front of her widened her smile, "That's not an answer, but it's good to know."

Finally Casey's brain found an answer it thought Patricia may like, "He just wanted me to dance, I didn't actually think he would try anything."

It was stupid and anyone who half a brain would have thought he wanted more. But perhaps, her mind supplied, that's only because Casey has met with the darkness of the world that she thinks that.

Apparently Patricia thought so too, "Now, that's a clever answer, but I'm no fool. It's just us girls right now and I promise no judgment.

"I know how hard it can be to discuss these things so I'll give you one more chance to answer. I also ask that this time you are truthful, it may alter the course of your stay here."

Casey's steady stream of neutrality faltered at that, what did the woman want to hear? There was no time to think again and nothing to deflect with so she went with the truth, "I didn't expect him to act so soon. I hadn't been dancing for long.

"Then he moved too fast and I wasn't- I wasn't ready for him to grab me yet, he wasn't supposed to grab me yet."

At that there is a glow in Patricia's eyes, a feral brightness like a lioness that has stumbled upon her prey only to find it isolated, "You were frightened because he touched you before a point that you were accustomed to escalation...

"Dennis was right, you are different. Those two have never known a drop of pain, but you, you have been purified and made clean through your suffering haven't you?"

The words were so unexpected that Casey failed to choke back the sob that had made it's way up to her throat. Surprisingly it was Patricia's eyes that watered.

The woman gasped and wiped away a stray tear, "Oh my!" Patricia exclaimed softly, "How are you doing that Dear?"

It's then that Casey does not cry out nor does she sob, but lets the warm tears trail down her face, "I'm not doing anything."

This time when Patricia speaks it's not with confusion, but with awe, "You don't even know your doing it."

It's an earth shattering moment, but when it happened Casey had been too concerned with her uncertain fate, one day she would look back on the memory fondly but that was far in the future. At the moment her whole being was locked onto Patricia as the woman continued speaking, "This is remarkable. Perhaps there will be time for this later, for now, you must go back with the others."

The woman stood and them motioned for Casey to do the same, there was a silent moment that Patricia continued to contemplate the younger's face. She reached out a caressed a lock of Casey's hair before whispering almost conspiratorially,

"Speak not of this conversation to the others. They wouldn't understand," Patricia finally seemed grounded in the present again, "People like us need to stick together after all."

With that she gently lifted one of Casey's hand and placed it in the crook over her elbow, slowly the woman escorted her back to the room where Marcia and Claire had been left.

Patricia unlocked the door and guided Casey in quietly and left just as sweetly.

The moment the lock clicked into place Claire spoke, "Casey what the hell is going on?"

Marcia looked at her in equal trepidation, "Why does he keep taking you? What is he telling you?!"

Casey was at a loss for a moment. How was she supposed explain the encounters? The two were so different. How was she supposed to explain to them that both times she left it was with different people?

A Part of her whispered that this was their plan, divide and conquer, but was it really? Both of the other girls were understandably eager for answers, but Casey felt like she knew less now that when she came to this place.

How as she supposed to share what she had learned with these girls who she saw every single day? How was she supposed to just tell them every horrible thing that happened to her? With Patricia it was necessary and some how easier, there was something about her that was familiar, but not too familiar, different but the same?

These two practically hated her and would probably ruin any plan she tried to form in order to escape. They, after all, had never been in a situation where they had to survive. It was painfully obvious from the way they behaved at any small flicker of hope. They didn't know how crucial it was to bide your time and scheme.

In the end Casey gave a diplomatic, "Nothing, I already told you what Dennis wanted, Patricia just asked me about it."

Claire looked at her coldly her jaw clenched and Marcie also seemed to withdraw completely from the conversation.

It was then that Casey realized that she had used their names.


	5. Constellations In Her Belly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FunFact: Auto-Correct keeps trying to change Hedwig's name to Dwight, so if his name is spelled wrong that's the reason I keep missing it. Auto correct just thinks his name is always wrong.

It had been a day and a half but Patricia had set him to task as soon as they could afford to.  
Partly it was repentance for Dennis' misconduct, the other part was practicality. After all, it was unseemly for a girl of purity to be in the same room as the Sacred Food, if Patricia's tone was anything to judge by, it was almost sacrilegious.

So he did as he was instructed and dragged one of the beds into one of the empty rooms that contained 3/4 bathroom, and set it up as decently as he could manage. In the corner, he placed a small two shelf book case and placed a few novels from Orwell's collection as well as the stereo that the other man had used for audio books.

Next he sealed up the vent to prevent escape and at Patricia's urging placed yellow daisies on the pillow.

It wasn't much but it was better than the Impures had been given.

Someone like her was never intended to have been brought into the current situation, it was the least they could do.

Lastly, Dennis placed a deadbolt in the door. It was far more heavy duty than the simple knob-lock on the impure's room, but they needed to take more precautions with this girl, after all, she was broken and thus more likely to escape and survive any situation.

As he finished checking the lock Patricia joined him and began speaking excitedly, "I was so devastated when you told me of your misstep, but this could be good."

"How could this possibly be good?" Dennis scowled, "We, took a pure person and I-"

He stopped and gathered himself, "She's not safe here."

"Yes, but she has some sort of gift." Patricia explained, "A broken person with a superhuman ability, she is living proof The Beast is real!"

The words made Dennis freeze and a sense of excitement trilled through him. Patricia was right of course. If there was one person that was more than human, then what was to stop one of their Alters to be as well. Each of them changed their body according to what they believed they were.

If the girl had a power, than what was stopping one of them from having one too? It was logic at it's finest and it made him want to laugh in the face of each of the others that had doubted. But not yet, no that would be for when The Beast truly unveiled himself. It was evidence though and that meant something.

"We need to be sure." Dennis replied while turning the key in the deadbolt, "We need to try and have her use her power again."

"Not on us surely." Patricia smiled, "Perhaps on the Impure girls, she seemed to have such a distaste for them."

Dennis nodded, if she did indeed dislike them it would be a viable option. Patricia sighed, "We still don't know her name."

"We didn't want to know it." Dennis frowned in contemplation, the lock was installed perfectly.

"That was before!" Patricia then practically chirped, "Things are different now."

Dennis was apprehensive, they could be forming a weapon against themselves, but if every precaution was taken it wouldn't matter. Because they were survivors too, and just as clever.

Gathering his tools he began putting them away, "I'm going to give the Sacred food something to clean up their area when I retrieve her.

"Is there anything you want me to tell her?"

Patricia was silent until she finally decided there was indeed a message to impart, "Tell her I chose the flowers."

With that Patricia was gone completely leaving Dennis to continue his clean up alone.

  
\--  
\--

  
Ever since her encounter with Patricia, Casey was sure the other two girls were growing wary of her.

Because that's how some people were, they fell back on old patterns. Marcia and Claire had decided they were a unit and that Casey, as usual, was other.

Casey was collateral damage that they were willing to take.

She tried not to show how much that pained her.

There was no telling how much time had passed before their door was opening again. Claire and Marcia as expected shied away from the door but never took their eyes off it.

As for her, Casey stood and clenched her fists, she made a valiant effort to exude calm.

It was Dennis who entered the room and Casey felt her breathing hitch. The man was wearing the same clothes as before and held a bucket.

Practically ignoring them he went into the bathroom and made a noise of complaint, "No! Please keep your area neat!"

The sight of slight disarray seemed to pain him, "I brought you supplies to clean, I color coded it, the blue is for the floor and the red is for ceramics."  
Casey made to grab the bucket but he put a hand out to stop her, "Not you one of them."

Claire shot her a sharp look and grabbed the bucket cautiously, Marcia followed.

She made to accompany them but once again Dennis blocked her path without touching her and said, "You are to be moved."

Gently, almost reverently he took her hand and, just as Patricia did, placed it in the crook of his elbow to escort her.

Marcia and Claire's gazes bored into the back of Casey's head but she did not turn or acknowledge them, no, she simply let Dennis escort her out of the room for the third time.

He locked the door behind them and guided her to another room, this one led directly to the hall and had a deadbolt on top of the knob-lock in place. Easily Dennis unlocked the door and brought her in.

The room was simple, but easily more adorned than the one they had just left. There was a real bed that was made with an actual quilt and two pillows. A small bookshelf held a half dozen books and a stereo cassette player.

On the pillow there was a yellow daisy.

"This is your room." Dennis informed her, "You're not like the other two, you should have never been taken that was a mistake.

"We can't let you go though, you'd just go to the police. Patricia and I decided to at least improve your accommodations, it wouldn't be right to keep you with the other two."

Casey pulled away from him and floated towards the bookshelf, "I don't understand, why can't i be kept with them?"

"They're impure," Dennis explained, "But you on the other hand have been purified through suffering."

Gently she lifted the Daisy from it's place on the bed, and looked at the man in front of her. It was strange, he had almost assaulted her before and now he was completely different. A lot of things had changed quickly including Marcia and Claire.

"I'm sorry." He suddenly continued, "I shouldn't have touched you it was wrong and I won't do it again i swear.  
"I don't want to hurt someone like us."

Casey's senses told her that Dennis truly believed what he said so she nodded and smelled her daisy.

"Patricia chose those." he offered awkwardly now, "She wanted you to know that."

Swallowing thickly Casey at last offered a smile, "Tell her thank you and thanks to whichever of you brought me books. I like to read."

Dennis jerked his head in a nod before saying, "You don't have to be cooped up in here either, if me and Patricia are around you can come out, as long as you're with us. You're not a prisoner anymore."

The term 'Captive Guest' entered Casey's head and she had to keep herself from laughing hysterically. It was so strange and confusing.

Without warning Dennis gave one more nod and made his exit, Casey's ears picked up the deadbolt sliding into place.

It was then that Casey finally choked, tears fell from her eyes and she only just kept herself from screaming.

Things were making sense now. Dennis had seen her scars and now she had been upgraded from whatever purpose the other girls were serving. The way he had spoke, it was as if he would have let her free if he was able.

She heaved a great sob and covered her mouth. A prisoner in a gilded cage, grabbed by mistake and saved by the grace of her monstrous Uncle's appetites and her own weakness.

The scars she herself had carved into her body as a testimony of survival, a ticket to the first class section in whatever hell she'd been secreted off to.

It was funny really, she was now in the best position to find out their plan, to save them all, but all she could do was cry. Because while Dennis and Patricia said he would not touch her, that didn't mean he wouldn't.

He may not be as brazen and depraved as her uncle, he may have been able to stop himself the first time but men like Dennis don't just stop. Now that she was alone she was the most likely target if he so desired to try again.

It was horrifying and somehow freeing.

When she was younger, she was eager to become a hunter, just like her father.

Casey was one who communed with nature when she was out there, in the forest and the wilds she was in her element.

The rustling of leaves and the skittering of insects were her favorite song in the whole world.

Animals were her life and she wanted to know everything about them and chase them down like a predator, a wolf in the wild.

It wasn't until she was 6 that she realized that she wasn't a predator, she was a little girl playing make believe, she would always be her Uncle's prey.

Now though, now she didn't want to be prey any more, but as with when she was younger, Casey never got to choose when they were to stop.

\--  
\--

From the Moment Claire Benoit woke up in the room with Marcia to find Casey still sleeping, to their current predicament of staring down their captor as he pretended to be a child, she had never given up fighting.

She refused to be compliant and appeasing as Casey had been. It was something she couldn't understand or fathom.  
How could a girl who regularly almost got into fist fights with teachers become such a weak and pathetic creature as Casey had done?

Claire was convinced now more than ever that she was all talk. The conclusion was jarring to say the least, to realize that Casey Cooke was a bag of hot air who acted like she was cooler, smarter, and edgy like the rest of those hot topic goths.

It was disheartening to see someone that had seemed, now she realized falsely, strong become so compliant.

Look what it got her, Casey was gone, probably fucking dead. Now it was just her and Marcia who had to be strong. They had to stick together.

Their Captor continued to stare at them as Marcia stuck ever closer to Claire.

"You guys make alotta noise when you sleep." The man announced, his voice small and immature.

"You watched us sleep?" Claire spit out in disgust, Marcia clenched her fist.

The man pretending to be a child shrugged, "Hey do you know the other girl's name? You know the other one that's not here. Mr. Dennis forgot to ask her and I wanna find out before him."

"Casey?" Marcia frowned and Claire shot her friend a reproachful look.

"Marcia no."

Marcia cringed as their captor's eyes lit up like Christmas lights, "Casey! That's a real nice name you know."

"Where is she?" Claire made her best attempt to make it sound like a firm demand, after all he seemed to be in a 'good' mood compared to the times he'd come before.

"That's none of your business," he replied breezily.

"Why not?!" Marcia cried out, "She's our friend."

"That's not what Ms. Patricia says that she said." the man frowned, "Ms. Patricia said she had to be moved cause she was too good for you anyways so I'm not gonna tell you no matter what you say! Even if you offer me a kiss!"

The last part was said as if he would very much tell them if they offered him a kiss but Claire refused to degrade herself in such a way, "No way!"

The man laughed and shrugged, "Anyways I'm gon go now cause I got other things to do before Mr. Dennis wants the light back and finds out I've been in here! Bye!"

His departure was abrupt and he locked the door after him.

  
"What the hell was that supposed to mean? That Casey's too good for us?" Claire frowned at the knowledge and felt a creeping sickness in her stomach, had she betrayed them for something? For preferential treatment because she had danced for the sicko? Had she let him do more? After all Casey hadn't screamed and there was no sound of fighting when she had first been taken. And the second time? They had sounded like they'd walked to a completely different part of wherever they were.

The third time the man had refused to let Casey clean too, he'd escorted her out on his arm and it was starting to make a sick sort of sense, had she sold her body to him to be treated better?

"He's just trying to get us to doubt each other!" Marcia sounded more like she was trying to convince herself, "He's trying to confuse us by acting like different people and now he's figured out we're probably not close to Casey so he's trying to break us all apart!"

"Where is she then?" Claire asked, "Where is she?! He walked in here and she followed him out like a goddamn sheep! She's the only one who never screamed or yelled! Then when we asked her what happened she was hiding something!  
"Now she's just gone! What was she hiding?! Where is she?!"  
Doubt was creeping into her heart, more so than before. What was someone as seemingly self centered and wild as Casey capable of?

"I don't know!" Marcia sounded like she was about to cry, "I don't know! Maybe She's dead Claire!"

Suddenly Claire was sick.

Had he raped her and beat her? Had he killed her in a violent passion? Why had Casey just let him take her? Had she no fire? No fight?

That was the difference between them, Claire decided, where Casey had resigned herself to their situation she was going to fight.

Standing she slammed her fist against the wall, "I've watched too many fucking crime shows to go down without a fight!  
"there's gotta be a clue right?! Something! People get out of shit like this all the time!"

Marcia looked at her in confusion then her gaze crawled along the room, "How come it's all drywall except it turns into brick?"

Claire looked at the drywall and it dawned on her, "This is brand new, it's like he just put it in.  
"It's like when those psychos on those 24hr crime shows, they'll build places to keep their victims. But what if he just build over an old room ? what if there's a way to escape in here?!"' 

With that she began banging on the wall and Marcia joined in.

Seeing as her friend had the wall easily covered, Claire climbed onto one of the cots and began banging her fists on the ceiling until finally her hands made contact and a hollow noise echoed through the room.

"HERE!" Claire felt a rush of excitement and adrenaline as she took off her shoe and began striking the ceiling with her high heel.

As the ceiling began falling apart against her assault, Claire could see that the drywall had been concealing a vent.

Without warning they heard the childish voice return and their captor shouted through the door, "Hey! What are you doing in there?!"

Marcia looked to Claire in a heart stopping panic, the blonde continued to pull back the material that was blocking their new found escape route and shouted under her breathe, "Block the door!"

Her friend nodded, her curly hair bouncing, then dashed to the door. The sound of keys could be heard and suddenly the door cracked opened. Marcia held firm though and pushed back.

"Stop! It let me in!" The childish voice shouted.

"Wait we're changing!" Marcia replied desperately.

Finally Claire was able to fully access the vent and pulled it open, their captor was yelling again as she struggled pulled herself up and into the ventilation shaft.

"I'm gonna slap you!" their captor cried, "You're being bitches! I'm gonna get in trouble!"

At long last Claire bulled herself up and into the new area and began crawling desperately. The noise of the room faded and she frantically searched for an exit. Coming upon another vent, she used her legs to kick it out and climbed into a hall.

Suddenly from behind her, Claire heard a man's voice again.  
"Hey! Get back here!" Her Kidnapper shouted angrily, it was the voice he used when he had glasses.

Desperately Claire sprinted away from where they had been kept, her throat was tight and yet she wanted to scream. The teen could hear the man's steps coming closer, suddenly she came upon a set of gym style lockers and snapped to a quick decision.

Taking a deep breath, her whole body quaking, she ducked into one of the lockers to hide. Desperately she covered her own mouth to hush the frantic panting and whimpering that was clawing it's way up her throat.


	6. Diamonds In Her Flesh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, whats up, this is a long fic and now it's more than halfway through

 

 

There was no telling when she had fallen asleep in her new gilded cage, but when Casey woke up, it was because she sensed a presence in the room with her.

Prying her eyes open, Casey's vision was met with the body of her captor leaning over her, but once again there was a new demeanor from that of Patricia and Dennis'.

"I'm Hedwig!" The new yet familiar face said, Hedwig's voice was childish and sounded as if he had a lisp, "I have red socks."

Immediately Casey sat up in the bed and Hedwig, who had been sitting uncomfortably close, shifted back to give her more room.

Getting her breathing under control from the surprise Casey asked, "How old are you Hedwig?"

"I'm nine" The boy grinned proudly.

Casey acted quick, "Really? I thought you sounded ten."

Hedwig laughed, "You're funny! I brought music for you to listen to because Mr. Dennis said he let you barrow Orwell's stereo."

He then produced a CD from the pocket of the track suite he was wearing, "Don't tell though cause I'm not even supposed to be here, I stole the light from Mr. Dennis to meet the girl they keep talking about.  
"Especially since they gave you Orwell's stereo, he hates when people touch his book stuff. But since Mr. Dennis and Ms. Patricia are the only one in the light right now I guess it's OK..."

Absently Casey wondered how many people lived in that body of theirs. How many more voices and personalities would she have to dance around?

"I wouldn't know." Casey replied to the unasked question, "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Well you're not suppose to be 'corddin to Ms. Patricia, she says you's were a mistake on acounta you bein pure etcetera." Hedwig rambled like most kids did.

Then he bounded over to the stereo and popped in his CD. Without too much preamble an unfamiliar song began playing, it was smooth and silky with a bit of a powerful undertone.

"It's Kanye West." Hedwig explained, "He's my main man right now and I would dance for you but this songs too slow for it."

Casey nodded unsure of where to head from there, "I've never really listened to him."

"What!" Hedwig shouted practically scandalized, "He's the best!"

Suddenly his voice turned grave, "I gotta show you more music. But I can't bring you to my room cause Mr. Dennis said your only aloud out with him or Ms. Patricia."

In any other circumstances Casey would have tried to convince him to take her to his room right then, but they all kept saying she'd be permitted out of her room later. So, sticking to her plan to gain trust she banked on the later opportunity to scout the area.

"Maybe later." She smiled, "Hedwig?"

The boy looked at her expectantly, "Yeah?"

"How many others are there? Besides Dennis and Patricia." Casey posed the question as innocently as she could.

"Well..." Hedwig dragged the word out in a way only a child could, "Barry is the one who is usually in charge, he's the one who always got to pick who was in the light. But I gotta special power where I can wish myself into the light whenever i want and I can put whoever I want there.  
"We're in chairs see, and I can keep Barry in his chair however long i want that's why Ms. Patrica and Mr. Dennis said I could be with them, so they can have the light whenever."

Casey nodded and while she filed the vital information away, it wasn't what she had asked, "So how many are you keeping in their chairs?"

There was a beat, then Hedwig grew smug, "20 not counting me and Ms. Patricia and Mr. Dennis. We're waiting etcetera."

"What are you waiting for?" Casey pressed feeling the urgency of the situation once more.

Hedwig, grew impossibly smugger and cryptic saying, "He's on the move."

"Who?" she asked the question, feeling her desperation for answers finally creeping into her voice.

"He's gonna do aweful things to those girls you came with." Hedwig excitedly chattered.

"Hedwig-" Suddenly Casey was cut off by a loud banging down the hall, presumable from the room that Marcia and Claire were still being held.

The boy's eyes widened almost comically, "You gotta stay here OK? I'm gonna check out what they're doing cause, it don't sound good."

Casey's heart was racing, were they trying to escape? Had they found a viable option or were they desperately grasping at any chance?

Quickly Hedwig stood and rushed out the door, locking it behind him. As for Casey, she was left to stare after him and wonder what was happening to the others.

  
\--  
\--

Dennis was thrust into the light completely unceremoniously, that paired with the fact that Hedwig was screaming sent him instantly into attack mode.

  
"They wont let me in and they're making a buncha noise!" Hedwig's childish voice cried out and Dennis' hackles rose even further than before as he swiftly change from Hedwig's clothing to his own.  
"It's good you came to me." Dennis assured the boy lest he panic more. Not even bothering to finish buttoning up his shirt, Dennis headed towards the room the Sacred food was being kept, turned the knob and braced himself against the door before he began to rather easily shove his way through.

After all, Hedwig was only 9 and he was a fully grown man against what seemed to be one girl.

Shoving his way in, Dennis crossed the thresh hold to find that the curly haired one had been the one to remain, and the blonde one had carved a hole in the ceiling to access the vent. Anger and anxiety rushed through him before he turned to the remaining girl and had to practically bite back a snarl.

This was beyond terrible.

Acting as fast as he could, Dennis grabbed the girl and shoved her into the bathroom they had been given. briskly he locked her in and then rush out to capture the other girl.

Luckily fate seemed to be on their side.

The girl was sloppy, a pitiful creature who wasn't accustomed to being prey, completely uncreative and lacking the cunning needed to survive.

He could hear her banging about in the vents down the hall and followed it. When she exited the vents her clamoring was deafening and it was still even easier to allow her simpering cries to lead him to her.

Suddenly her noise lessened and Dennis grew panicked, for a moment he worried that he might have actually lost the girl in such an inept escape attempt. Fortunately as he passed the lockers kept for their fellow maintenance workers his ears finally picked up on the girl's crying.

Sighing in relief he approached the locker she had no doubt clamored into in a foolish attempt to escape he spoke, "I thought I Lost you."

Then to force the matter he knocked on the locker, "You all make fun of us but you don't realize how powerful we are.  
"Will you step out please? "

Slowly the locker door swung open and he was met with the face of a crying girl. Her sweater was full of rubble and dirt from her escapade and he had ground himself with a sharp intake of air.

Dennis' nostrils flared and he ran his hand over his head. Conflicted, he didn't want to do it, he was trying to be good. Except she was so filthy!  
"You're sweater is dirty, its-" His voice caught, "Take it off."

The girl sobbed and followed his instruction, hand trembling, snot and tears smearing across her face. Facing him pathetically.

It was so different from the other one.

The one who had been soft and compliant, the one whose bore scars and was sitting in her own private room.

The blond girl in front of him handed over her sweater and Dennis' had to clench his jaw. What kind of girl wore no shirt under a sweater?! His eyes roved over her smooth and soft body and he chastised himself for it.

He was supposed to be good.

Easily Dennis motioned her to lead the way back.

She thought she was going back to the room she'd started, but he had other plans.

Letting her lead him into the hall he halted her long before the room she escaped from and opened one of the storage closets he knew for sure held only empty boxes and papers.

"Get in" Dennis ordered.

The girl turned to him here eyes and face red from crying, still she looked at him as if she didn't believe what he was saying. So, he said it again, this time letting his displeasure show,

"Get in the closet, you're being punish and will be kept separate!"

Quickly she shuffled into the closet and he closed the door. Taking out his keys, Dennis locked it then opened one of the closets across the way and garbed his tools to install a latch to enforce the locked door.

He made quick work of it and called through the door, "You don't want to be in the room anymore you get a room all to yourself!"

It was probably the cruelest thing this girl had ever experienced and he had to spare a thought for how pathetic that was. Dennis wasn't a violent man, not like some, but knowing who she was and how dredged in impurity she was, he had no problem with punishing her.

Thoughts of what The Beast would do to her entered his mind and Dennis had to push it back. Quickly he reminded himself why they were doing this. It was all to build a safer world, for Kevin, it was always for Kevin.

  
\--  
\--

 

The noise had stopped.

There was no more banging or foot steps and finally when she heard Claire's sobbing Casey had to choke down any hope she had that they had managed whatever they had planned.

Voices came through the door, but not clear enough to make out, and finally it ended with the sound of drilling.

Casey curled further into herself on the bed she had been given. The yellow quilt was wrapped around her and her mind kept wondering what they had tried and how they had failed.

Suddenly she could hear the tumblers in the lock on her door and Dennis entered.

"The others tried to escape. " The statement was even, "The blonde one will be kept separately for now.  
"I'm telling you this so you understand the noise you just heard. I don't want you to panic."

Casey nodded and expected him to leave, Dennis shifted his weight on his feet and suddenly asked, "I never got your name, if that's alright?"

"Casey" She replied, "And you're Dennis?"

He nodded and adjusted his glasses, "Do you want to come out for something to eat?"

Her heart began pumping rapidly as she nodded. Dennis stepped out of the door way in invitation. Slowly she rose from her place on the bed and the man's eyes locked onto the rumpled blanket.

Smoothly she made the bed, hoping that would keep the situation calm, then carefully made her way out into the hall. Dennis jerked his head as if to invite Casey to lead.

With one great step she began making her way down the yellow lit hallway.

Having been to the kitchen with Patricia, Casey easily found her was back and then turned to Dennis, "Is there anything particular I'm supposed to make?"

The man shook his head and she took that as invitation to have free reign.

"There are no knives, save the ones for butter. " Dennis informed her, "If you need to cut something just ask and I'll assist you."

Cassie continued to look through the fridge.

Quickly she grabbed a pack of thickly sliced ham, "Have you eaten?"

"It's fine." Dennis informed her, "Just feed yourself."

Casey the grabbed two eggs. It was strange, almost surreal to be cooking in a strange kitchen under the watchful eyes of her apparent kidnapper.

She fried the eggs silently, then she browned the ham in the same pan. Absently she gazed around the kitchen, "Where do you keep the bread."

Dennis, who had taken a seat to observe her, then rose to approach the fridge, "Whole wheat, rye, or plain white?"

"Whole wheat." Casey chose and pondered the collection.

He handed her the loaf and Casey popped two slices in the toaster, Dennis then took the bread and returned it to it's place on the fridge next to a seemingly and endless amount of cereal.

It was almost like sliding through dimensions. One moment being kidnapped the next she was in a small and cozily lit kitchenette with her kidnapper helping herself to his fridge.

In what was probably only minutes, but felt like hours, Casey grabbed a fork from the drawer and sat at the table with her food and a bottle of orange juice she grabbed during the return trip to the fridge for the ham.

She expected it to remain awkwardly silent when she ate but was proven wrong when Dennis said, "How do you change the mood of a room just by walking into it?"

Casey swallowed a bite of eggs and toast then looked up at the man, "What do you mean?"

"I was angry, at the blond girl for trying to escape but when I went to talk to you, It was like i was instantly calm." Dennis explained.

"I'm just good at reading people." Casey brushed it off, "I guess I've always been half decent at shifting people's moods intentionally, it's all body language."

"But what if it's not." the man posed a question Casey had always pointedly refused to ask herself ever since that day. Her mind went to the wings in the oven and her need to clean the sink.

"Our condition, allow each of our distinct personalities to inhabit this Body." Dennis continued, "I need glasses, but Patricia doesn't. One of us is diabetic, that's why there's a loaf of 16 grain whole wheat."

He gestured to her toast, "What if like us, because of your pain and suffering, your body changed. What if it awakened a power inside of you?"

Casey had finished half her meal by the time he had finished, her heart had heard his words, but her mind was on that day in the kitchen when she was trying to clean the sink.

"If i had powers then, why couldn't i do anything to you? When yo-" She cut herself off and breathed slowly in an attempt to ward off the inevitable panic that was rising, "When I got scared."

"I felt your fear, you're pain." Dennis confessed and Casey's blood ran cold.

"But I've suffered too, all of us have. I'm used to pain." His words were plain and it made her heart ache, the understanding in his eyes made her heart and head spin.

It's too much, the thought that she might be something more than human. If it was true then what was she? What did it mean?

She knows the answer, it's in the memory of that day in the kitchen. When her Uncle grabbed her, only one of them had screamed.

And it wasn't her.

"You should try it." Dennis's words echo through Casey's head and she blinks at him like he's an alien.

He just told her the last time she tried whatever this was on him, that it didn't work. Maybe that's why he asked her, he wanted to see for sure.

Casey swallowed, "Right now?"

In reply Dennis only nodded.

Putting down her fork Casey tried to focus on making him feel something. She did it with her teachers, her classmates, she could do it Dennis too right?

She focused her mind's eye, not on her pain, but the opposite. Easily she pulled up the memories her father lived in. Where she watched him clean his riffle and the rare hikes they went on that was just the two of them. She tries her best to convey it, just as she had every other time she'd tried to guide a conversation.

Her mind is telling her that it's pointless, the thing she did to make teachers angry, to get ignored, they were all normal. Casey Cooke was a boring girl and this whole things was a farce.

Her heart on the other hand whispered softly like a child would wish upon stars; what if it wasn't? 

Dennis' eyes suddenly glazed over and the man swallowed, his voice became thick, "What was that?"

"I thought of my father." Casey confessed, suddenly her hands were trembling as the weight of what she had done came crashing down, "He died when I was small. I was always happiest with him."

She's told him too much,Casey had shared sacred feelings with a man she barely knew, a man who had attacked her. But still it's just pouring out and her heart keeps remembering his understanding eyes when he said that he knew pain. Eyes that held no pity or judgment, eyes that had seen her scars.

It's not an Ideal place to finally confess to herself that she's not quite normal, that she has a gift? a power?  
The fact that Dennis and Patricia seem relatively unfazed by it tosses it aside from any escape she might make.

It won't help, and yet she treacherously thinks that when this is over, maybe she can practice it.


	7. Honey Down Her Spine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Derivative Dr. Fletcher scene appears! It's alright it's too much like the movie scene and I don't know how to change it

She is a wonder and his mind keeps remembering the feelings she had sent him. Treacherously it also supplies they way she'd nervously, shyly danced for him and stripped off  layer by layer of her clothing.

Baring to him her body so compliantly.

He swallowed and shook the thought, no, memory from his head. Dennis reminded himself to be good. Casey was not to be touched, she was Pure. Besides he was supposed to be better than those thoughts.

And yet, she was filling his senses. Knowing the pain he'd felt from her was not invented, no, she apparently had to draw on her own feelings. Casey was broken with scars like the fissures of an earthquake across her body and it made her all the more beautiful.

Inhaling once more, Dennis pushed his musings back and away from her.

He had to speak to Dr. Fletcher again, and it would not do to be absent minded. Barry was good at focusing on conversations and he had to make sure the psychiatrist did not see through him.

Absently he adjusted Barry's beanie on his head and began his venture from the cabbie's drop off point to towards Dr. Fletcher's apartment. Once again he had brought sketches, they were currently tucked under his arm and they really were the easiest method to deflect her attention from him.

This was their third session that was called by one of the others when he was sleeping. The previous one she had not been thoroughly convinced that he was Barry and it was time to double down.

This time though after she's greeted him and he's made a short and fluttery circuit around her cluttered home, Dennis found himself invited to sit with the woman as she perused Barry's drawings.

Dennis provided commentary over the pieces as best he could.

She peered at him curiously, as if she wanted to pose a question and finally she did.

"We've been talking about silk and wool blends for almost half an hour. Can I guess that you e-mailed me in the middle of the night for an urgent session due to Garden Variety issues?"

He prevented himself from freezing at the question but then laughed, "You know, I was feeling down, and I messaged you. But then I had a good sleep and now I feel better!"

"I had a thought." Dr. Fletcher began, "I want to talk about the issue at work."

Raising her hand in a sign of comfort she continued, "It's OK Barry, you're safe. I just want to discuss the details of the incident a little further perhaps?"

He nodded and she continued, "A High school was on a field trip at your place of work and two young ladies came up to you. Each took one of your hands and put them under their shirts and placed them inappropriately, then they just ran off giggling.

"You, came to the conclusion that it was probably a dare. You told me they seemed to be 17 or 18, and that it upset you for several days."

Dennis did his best not to react to the story, it had hurt Barry so deeply when it happened, it had rocked the other man to his core, "It was just a silly prank by a couple a teenagers, I get that now."

Dr. Fletcher nodded sadly then,"You see, this was my mistake. I feel I went over the issue too fast. Thought you said it was fine and the others who met with me agreed with you, I believe that this may have once again brought up brought up issues from when you were just a child and abused.

"You see, sometimes another incident of abuse can cause suppressed personalities to take the light. Dennis, if this is you, I completely understand why you felt the need to take over and protect the others."

He laughed of course, "Doctor please, not this again."

The previous session she had insisted he was Dennis and while she was right, he could not let her know it, not now when they were so close.

"Now the others told  me that you and Patricia told them stories about this beast." The woman began anew, ignoring his response, "And I told the others that these were just stories that you two tell them to frighten them."

She then went on to describe the beast, "How he can climb on seemingly sheer surfaces like the best rock climbers, who use the slightest imperfections."

Dennis felt his heart sink into his stomach, anger, that she would describe The Beast as if he was a monster from a fairy-tale. Like his abilities were to be laughed at.

"That his skin is thick and tough like a rhinoceros," Dr. Fletcher continued,"Do you really believe these stories about the beast?"

The image of Casey washing her dishes and the pan she used to make her food came to his mind unbidden. She had cleaned the sink afterwards too. Casey, a girl who could make him and Patricia feel emotions that were not their  own, she was proof that the broken could be more than human.  
Dennis tried to shake it off and shrug nonchalantly but he was not sure how of how convincing he seemed.

"If this is you Dennis, I understand why Kevin needs you." She stated with a smile, "You are strong, disciplined, precise, and you will not be taken advantage of.  
"And you can trust me. For example, I can call Kevin forth using his full name, but I wouldn't do that, because I know how chaotic it would be for all of you. Each of you trying to grab hold of the light, It'd be anarchy.  
I do not want to hurt any of you by putting you in that situation. You do not have to hide from me Dennis, I know you are someone who cares deeply for Kevin."

Slowly, his heart softened and his anger cooled as she finally concluded with, "You are not evil to me. You were necessary.

"Dennis is that you?"

Finally he made his decision. Smoothly and carefully he dropped his charade of being Barry. There was a glimmer of hope in his heart that perhaps, she would listen. Perhaps she would understand.

"They keep calling us The Horde. The others y'know, Ms. Patricia and I are ridicule, now we're not perfect but nobody deserves to be ridiculed." Dennis stated plainly, "We're all struggling, they have to admit that."

Dr. Fletcher's eye became watery before she wiped them away and smiled.

"Dennis it is so good to finally meet you." Reaching out a hand the Psychiatrist offered a handshake he readily took with a small, "You too."

"I assume you don't know who keeps calling the emergency sessions?" She asked.

Dennis shook his head, "Just that it's one of the others."

"Are you in charge now?" Was the next question posed.

"We've taken charge yes." He spoke plainly, now was not the time for lies,"We're the only ones who can protect Kevin now."

"We are all her to protect him." Dr. Fletcher replied reasonably.

Dennis shook his head, "He's very weak. He doesn't realize how powerful we can be."

"Do you mind telling me how you came into existence?" She pressed, "And how you and Patricia became aligned?"

That was something he was not willing to share, his heart was already beating loudly in his chest so he remained quiet.

"That's fine." Dr. Fletcher assured, "Are your beliefs still strong?"

"That depends on what." Dennis replied warily.

"The story of The Beast." The Psychiatrist explained.  
He could feel his hackles rise slightly as she refered to The Beast simply as a story.

"One thing that may comfort you to know," Dr. Fletcher spoke attempting to soothe, "Is that you've met the other Alters, as Barry has said, you are all sitting in a room in chairs. But you've never met the beast because as the story says, The Beast resides in a train yard.

"But that fact is that you and Patricia have never met The Beast. Have you?"

Her doubt, the disbelief in her tone, Dennis answered the only way he could to protect them all, "No"

"That's because he's not an alter, he's not the 24 identity, he's a fantasy!" She smiled as if they were the most comforting words she could bring him, instead they made him seethe silently.

  
\--  
\--

  
Casey found herself in the kitchen again.  
This time with Patricia.

It had started with the woman happily opening her door and motioning almost eagerly for her to come, "Come dear, you must help me and Dennis with lunch."

Then she was once again brought to the kitchenette.

Patricia grabbed the loaf of white bread and smiled when they entered, "Casey, grab the mayonnaise, ham and sliced cheese from the fridge if you would."

"Alright." Casey nodded and made her way to the fridge, grabbing the mayo and cheese only to stop and ask, "Did you want the Deli sliced or thick cut ham?"

"Deli sliced dear, we're making sandwiches." Patricia called back and Casey grabbed the chosen ham.

As she made her way towards the counter where Patricia was she stopped, "Do you need a butter knife for the Mayo?"  
Then, she reached towards the dish-rack where several were waiting and made to grab one.

"No dear, I have them in the drawer here." Patricia called back as she finished wiping down the counter and pulled out a spreading knife of her own.

Instead of releasing the knife she was already gripping, Casey made a split second decision to pull it out of it's resting place swiftly and as deftly as she could slid it into the pocket of her inner jacket.

Her heart was pounding from her actions, but she did her best to appear as at ease as could be. Patricia seemed not to notice as Casey placed their supplies on the counter.

There was a few beats, then they began working and Casey realized the gravity of what she had just done behind the older woman's back. It was a while before her heart beat was level again.

They worked in tandem to make two sandwiches, Casey wondered if this was for her and Patricia but she'd said....

"You said Dennis was here?" Casey asked as politely as she could manage, Patricia's smirked.

"Once in a while more than one of us will share the light, he isn't fully present but he can hear you and I can speak to him. It's always nice to have a friend on hand." Patricia explained.

Casey nodded in acceptance of the situation and said a small, "Hi Dennis."

The Woman chuckled brightly, "He says hello back."

She then sprinkled Paprika onto the mayonnaise that had been spread on the bread slices, "Now, these are for our guests, when they are done eating I was thinking we can make something a bit more complex for ourselves."

It was strange to Casey how comfortable the routine was getting considering that it hadn't been in place very long, "That sound fine."

"You know," Patricia eyed her as Casey added the cheese, "You are living proof that we aren't wrong, that The Beast is real, I knew of course, but I can hardly believe we are fortunate enough to have found someone so similar to us."

"The Beast? "Casey frowned in confusion, it was a term or title she had not yet heard.

Patricia's eyes sparkled brightly, "The Beast is our hope. You see, he is a sentient being that can scale a wall that seems sheer to the average eye using only the smallest blemishes. His skin is thick and strong like a rhinoceros and he is strong enough to bend steel."

"Who is he?" Casey could feel her pulse quicken at the description.

"He is what we can become, he is on the move, he will leave his place in the train-yard and join us soon." Patricia smiled, "Have courage, he is meant to protect those that have been broken and purified by suffering.  
"He will purge the Impures of the world and feed on them"

Casey listened as the woman placed the ham on the sandwiches and continued, "The others, they mock us for our belief in him, but you are proof. You are more than human, you are proof that we can also become more."

"Who are the impure?" Casey asked as they finished the sandwiches.

"They are those who have not suffered and revel in in the pain of the broken." Patricia explained.

"If he wants people like my uncle then why would Dennis take Marcia and Claire?" Casey pondered aloud and froze. She had somehow grown too comfortable too quickly here in this place.

Patricia had dignity and grace, so she ignored but no doubt filed the accidentally shared information away and addressed the question directly, "Because girls like them, they will never fail to become those who hurt others."

A part of her wanted to disagree, but she wanted Patricia and Dennis to trust her, so Casey gave the most diplomatic answer she could while not compromising,"I think they're too young to judge. Girls like them get hurt by people all the time. But people like my uncle, they've chosen their path and will never change."

"You are very smart." Patricia smiled and it was honest, "But that is to be expected, you see people as they truly are. You are like us, more evolved. The fact you have been granted a gift is even more proof of that."

The woman then tapped her on the nose affectionately.

"I don't know how much of a gift it is if it barely works." Casey huffed a shy laugh, feeling it genuinely.

"Of course it doesn't work much on Dennis and I. But we too have suffered." Patricia explained kindly, "I have no doubt that if you were to use that power of yours on an impure soul they would crumble to your feet, as they should."

Casey's mind went to the sink in her Uncles home and the scream.

Then, something changed in Patricia's demeanor, her emotion turned around into what Casey could only describe as 'mischievous'. The Woman's voice grew conspiratory, "Would you like to try it on one of them?"

It was too much for her. Yes she wanted their trust, but Claire and Marcia were two people she was supposed to be helping! If she did that, she would of course earn the trust of Patricia and Dennis, but she would lose any that the other two girls may have had for her.

Casey glanced down at her feet unsure of what to choose.

Apparently the silence was too long an Patricia broke it with a chuckle, "Of course you still have time! We will not force you into anything you don't want to do."

Casey nodded at the words and hoped they held true.

Patricia plated the two sandwiches on picnic plates and placed one on the table, "I am going just down the hall to feed the trouble maker."

Then the woman reached into her pocket with the hand not occupied by a sandwich and pulled out a small key before offering it to Casey, "You go grab the other one, she's to eat in here for a proper meal."

The glint of light on the small Kwikset key was taunting her. It practically sparkled in the light and Casey had to steady herself as she reached out and opened her palm, allowing Patricia to press the cool bit of metal into her hand.

Slowly Casey let her hand close over the key, and nodded, "I'll be right back then."

She turned carefully and could feel the testing eyes of Patricia on her back, enhanced by her own nerves and the waves of readiness that was also pouring off the other woman.

Surely she couldn't mess this up. Casey knew that Patricia was just going down the hall, she would be in an easy position to intercept any attempt at escape. The fact that Patricia had openly acknowledged to her that Dennis was present with them sucked out any hope she may have had towards leaving at the moment.

Now though, as Casey moved down towards the room she had originally found herself in , she had to contend with the fact that she was going to have to stop Marcia from any ill advised attempts. After all, right now was not the time!

Taking a deep breath Casey reached the outer room where there was an unseemly amount of clothes that she now knew were probably for all the other people that lived in Dennis and Patricia's head.

The key was like a lead weight as she approached the door that Marcia was being kept behind. Sliding in the key she could feel the other girl's nerves spike from on the other side of the door.

Casey turned the key and then pulled it out before also twisting the knob and pushing the door opened.

Marcia was huddled on the floor, her back to the wall and her knees were tucked up to her chest. She had no longer had a skirt on, nor her leggings, and Casey was curious about that but kept silent.

Suddenly as Marcia registered that it was Casey in the doorway, the girl's eyes widened and watered as if she was going to cry, "Casey! Oh my god Casey!"

Marcia scrambled to her feet and ran towards her. Casey had no idea what Marcia was about to do and stepped back nervously, she hardly knew the girl and understood she may want a hug. But the fact was that Marcia was half naked for some reason and had actively hated Casey for most of their lives.

Instead of hugging her Marcia laid her hands on Casey's shoulders, "How did you get a key?!What's going on? Do you know where Claire is?"

Casey couldn't bear to answered her questions, so instead she took another step back, removing herself from Marcia's touch and then proceeded to grab the other girl's wrist gently.

"C'mon" Casey swallowed hard, Marcia's hope had suddenly burst into confusion.

Slowly, she led the other girl down the hall. Casey's heart was pumping, because she knew what this would look like to Marcia, what Patricia would let it look like. A part of her mind said 'that's because it's what it is, a betrayal'.

Casey squashed the feeling down.

Finally they reached the Kitchen and Casey tugged the other girl in along side her. Patricia had already returned and was positively beaming at the sight of them.

"Sit down." Patricia's soft voice directed to them and Marcia' confusion suddenly burst into fierce and nauseating dread.

The girl looked at Casey, her eyes boring into her. Casey, for her part, sat down at the table.

Marcia then did the same, more slowly and with unmasked anger and disgust, all directed at Casey.

Patricia slid the sandwich that had remained in the kitchen towards Marcia, "I thought you should perhaps have a proper meal. I know things have been difficult, but trust me, we are doing the best we can."

Then the woman then floated over to Casey and stroked the younger's hair gently, "Good girl."

Patricia stretched out her hand and Casey took a steadying breath at the warmth that had rebelliously filled her chest at the words. Wordlessly she handed the key back to it's owner.

Casey could feel Marcia getting increasingly sicker at the sight of them.

Absently Casey's hackles rose at Marcia's feelings. Who was she to judge her?! Weren't they all trying to survive?! Casey used every thing she had to her advantage. Just because the other two girls had no idea how behave didn't mean that she was a monster!

She wasn't, she was just doing what she had to and after everything Patricia and Dennis, even Hedwig weren't cruel. They simply believed differently, they weren't evil beliefs either. Most people believed monster's like her Uncle deserved to be punished.

After all, for years that man had been going around doing much the same! That man in the green coat they couldn't decide on a name for. He'd been around for nearly 15 years, he was going out and stopping evil people who had done horrible things.

Dennis and Patricia just had it a little wrong but they had the spirit, it just needed a little adjusting.

There was one thing bothering her though, "Where's your skirt?"

Marcia froze suddenly and Glared at Patricia, "He took it from me to see me naked."

Patricia scowled, "Hush! It's does not do to insult people and lie!"

Casey knew that Marcia was acting out of anger, and anything she said would be colored by her distaste for Patricia and Dennis.

"Did Dennis take it?" Casey directed the question towards Patricia who just sighed.

"They were filthy, they tore apart their ceiling in an ill advised attempt to escape." Patricia informed, "Dennis has issues with things that are filthy."

She then smiled, "I'm going to start our dinner Casey, you sit there and if I need help I'll ask."

Casey nodded as Patricia turned around and then flipped the on switch to the stereo, the song that began playing reminded Casey of the music that played in the Chinese restaurant down the block from her school.

"They say Asian folk music aides digestion." Patricia threw a smile over her shoulder.

Patricia began working and Casey relaxed into the now semi familiar setting of the kitchen. Marcia on the other hand was frantically taking in as much as she could while she ate.

"Did you know," Patricia began unprompted, "That a family of lions can eat up to 35lbs a day?"

Casey pondered the anecdote and answered with her own, "A Buck can lose 30% of it's weight during mating season while chasing does around."

A bubbling wave of contentment rolled off the woman, Patricia turned slightly and asked with genuine curiosity, "They're crepuscular right?"

Casey nodded in agreement while Patricia then turned to Marcia who was sitting confused at the whole interaction, "It means they travel around at dusk and dawn." the woman explained.

Then she smiled at Casey and gave a gentle nod, "Good for you." before returning to her work of preparing dinner.

Marcia then looked at Casey and tugged on her sleeve gently to gain her attention. Casey looked a the other girl and felt chills at the sudden spike she felt in the curly haired girl's anxiety.

Patricia seemed to be mixing some sort of cold salad, made of left over chicken and macaroni as Marcia tried to signal the kitchen door to Casey.

"I don't know if you know this," Patricia began again,"But tigers only have 30 teeth, that's 12 less than a dog. I thought that was a fun fact."

Casey realized what Marcia was thinking of doing and shook her head, her own panic rising, before mouthing, 'no'.

It was stupid, Patricia was right there, and Casey knew for a fact that Dennis was probably still present too. It may have seemed tempting but escape was not worth the risk, not at the moment.

Slowly, as if in one of Casey's nightmares, Marcia rose to her feet. Casey could feel her own panic spike as she tried to focus and send a wave of 'DON'T' at the other girl, but her own nerves were getting in the way of it.

Marcia grabbed her chair carefully and Casey could see it all play out, and the trust she was building was about to go out the goddamned widow because Marcia had never had to work or survive a goddamned day of her life. Because the idiot had never had to face a situation where someone had contingency plans for their contingent plans.

The dark skinned girl raised her chair over her the top of her curly head of hair and turned to aim it at Patricia's back.

Casey's mouth moved before she could think,"MARCIA NO!"

As she spoke Marcia brought the chair down, but Patricia had heard Casey's cry and spun out of the way, leading the chair to slam against the counter violently.

Marcia turned then to Casey and the door, betrayal now solidly etched into her face as she grabbed the table and shoved it at Patricia before running.

Patricia looked at Casey and then shoved the table out of her way. Taking the time to stop the woman caressed Casey's cheek, "Go to your room, I'll come get you when this outburst is over."

The woman than grabbed the knife they had used on the sandwiches from the sink and took off after Marcia.

Casey swallowed thickly and inhaled a sharp burst of air before running back to her room all the while trying no to cry.


	8. Worlds In her Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 and 10 are being overhauled because I was hit with inspiration in the night lmao
> 
> They'll be done soon though.

The girl was trying to ruin everything. Patricia scowled as she calmly followed the curly haired Impure girl.

She had ruined their evening, and Patricia was indignant over it. Was she not being generous? Was she not doing her best to make the girl comfortable?! And how had she been repaid by them?

Making Casey uncomfortable, and causing an untoward scene in the kitchen. Poor Casey had been trembling and projecting her panic towards them through the whole affair and if that wasn't unconscionable enough, the Impure girl had even accused Dennis of being inappropriate when he had behaved himself perfectly well since his initial lapse with Casey.

Of course the girl had many layers of locked doors to escape and so Patricia meandered to meet her when she'd surly be stuck. A simple knob-lock too much for her and her sheltered mind.

Patricia felt her anger and disappointment roll through her as she crowded her self against the Curly haired girl's back.

The child turned to face her and Patricia positioned the knife that she had carried to brush against the girls smooth and unblemished stomach.

If Patricia had Casey's gift she was sure that the Impure's panic would be rolling through her.

"Shh..." The Woman hushed concealing her anger, with an almost comforting tone, "You didn't have a chance, you didn't stand a chance.

"You've been sheltered and protected all your life, you never would have made it out of here."

The girl began sobbing pathetically and Patricia held back a sigh. Her tears were nothing like the calm dignity that people like her and Casey's held.  
Stuck between knowing that she couldn't bring the girl back to the room she'd been kept in and the fact that she needed to be punished, "And we worked so hard to secure that room, it's a shame you forsook it."

Grabbing the girl's wrist Patricia dragged her to the storage closet next to the one that the other troublemaker had been moved to.

Easily she shoved the Curly Haired Impure into the closet that also contained nothing but throwaway papers and boxes, "You could have spent the rest of your time in the comfort of your room, but you had to try and ruin our reception like your other little friend didn't you?"

"Please!" The girl sobbed and Patricia had no sympathy for the likes of her, she wasn't worth her time.

Patricia then locked the door with their set of keys and addressed Dennis who had been silent through the whole ordeal, "You're going to have to secure that door too. How ungrateful! We provided them with a nice room, flowers and food! They act like we're the monsters."

"We know what they are." Dennis comforted her easily, "We know what they'll become."

There would be time to have Dennis in the light to secure the door further later, for now Patricia needed to check on Casey.

Of course, the door was half unlocked. Casey's room had only one knob-lock and wasn't accompanied by a latch but a deadbolt.

Unlocking and opening the door, Patricia found Casey sitting on her bed, thankfully she was not curled defensively but there was a sadness in the air. No doubt due to the fact that the other little brat had to ruin such a fine evening.

"Casey, Dear." Patricia addressed her lightly and Casey turned her full attention to her,"How are you feeling? Will you be able to stomach a meal after that display?"

The girl inhaled slowly, and Patricia was quietly proud of how well the girl was holding together in such a problematic situation.

"Something small probably." Casey relented and pulled a few small stray hairs out of her face. For Patricia that was enough.

"Good. I'll bring it to you if you're not up to eating in the kitchen." Patricia entered the room and sat on the bed next to the girl.

Casey nodded, "If it's not too much trouble, I know you wanted me to help."

"It's fine." Patricia offered some comfort, "I also want to thank you. I'm quite thankful that you warned me of her attempted attack.  
"People like us have to stick together."

Gently she stroked Casey's long almost mahogany hair, she was really quite lovely, not just in face but there was was star-fire in her soul.

Patricia privately felt a thrill of happiness that Casey had afforded them such a protection.

 

\--  
\--

 

After eating the cold chicken and macaroni salad Patricia prepared, Casey found herself laying in bed staring at the daisy she had moved to her bookshelf, it seemed brighter than when it was first given to her.

There was no remorse in her for what she did, and Casey was trying her best to convince herself that it was because she was trying to get them out of here. That she was working for their own good, but the words are hallow and cold next to the warmth of Patricia's praise.

The warm stroke of her hand, more loving than anything she can really clearly remember. So many of Casey's memories of her Father were tangled up with her Uncle John. For every kind and gentle touch her Father gave her there was a leer and unnatural hunger from her Uncle John.

She doesn't know what it means at the moment, so she pushed it away. She didn't want to dwell on it.

Things were simpler in sleep, so into slumber she fell.

Awakened by a noise Casey bolted upright.

Sitting on the edge of her bed was Hedwig wearing a grin, " I though you were gonna like, sleep forever!"

Casey sighed, "You scared me Hedwig."

"It's noon," Hedwig replied, "You Sleep a lot."

A laughed bubbled out of Casey's chest as she said, "Depression does that Hedwig."

He looked at her confused before changing the subject as he was wont to do, "Ms. Patricia says I can take you to my room and show you my music! I can dance for you too!"

Casey hazarded a guess, "Is Miss Patricia here now?"

"Nope!" Hedwig smiled brightly, "S'just us."

"Oh well, if she knows then it's fine." Casey tried her best to stay calm, she wasn't keen on getting in trouble, pulling herself up out of bed she smiled, "Lead the way."

Hedwig enthusiastically grabbed her hand and lead her to his room up the hall and apparently around the corner. The More Casey saw of the place the more it seemed like a maze.

Crossing the threshold to the child's room Casey was in awe, it was well stocked with toys and there were drawings, no doubt made by Hedwig, proudly displayed across the entire surface of the walls. On the desk there was a cage holding two Gerbils, one was running on his wheel and the other seemed to be napping.

"This is a nice room." She smiled at the boy, it was lively and looked like a child's dream. Absently she noted on the wall next to his stereo there was a peculiar drawing and it made her laugh, "You have window."

Hedwig's eyes lit up, "Yeah!" He then ran to the childish drawing of a window that had been taped to the wall, "Check this out!"

The boy Grabbed the bottom corner and flipped it up to reveal a drawing of the same window but now opened.

It was sweet and his excitement washed over her causing her to laugh brightly, "That's really cool Hedwig."

Bashfully he ducked his head and then turned to his stereo,"Look! I can dance!"

He then turned on the device and hard music filled the room. Casey watched him dance wildly and uninhibited as only a child could and when he turned off the radio his unadulterated glee filled her.

"Wow." She sighed.  
He nodded almost gravely, "I know"

It made her laugh.

"I see you like to draw, can I draw with you?" Casey asked and the boy seemed once again eager at the thought.

"You can draw?!" Hedwig chirped.

Casey smiled and her mind went to her art class, her heart stopping  cold at the thought of Marcia and Claire, whom she knew from that class.

"Yeah I can draw." Casey replied as evenly as she could, "Looking at your walls I see you like animals, pick one and I'll do my best to draw it for you."

"Yeah a lot of us like animals," Hedwig enthused as he began digging through his desk for art supplies, "I gotta think for a bit though, cause I like so many animals and it's hard to just pick one for you to draw, etcetera."

Casey nodded with a smile and watched as he gathered up his supplies before just dumping them on his bed and sitting on it. Breezily Casey approached the supplies, "You can pick more than one then, how about 3?"

"A Tiger." Hedwig immediately answered, "And a mouse, maybe a Zebra."

She had to keep herself from laughing again at how eager he was, "I can do that."

Grabbing a pencil, a couple of crayons, as well as a few sheets of paper, Casey sat on the floor and began drawing.

Hedwig's music had been turned down but was still playing as ambiance and Casey could almost forget how she got there.

They talked of animals, his love of the Park and then he said, "Why do you like animals?"

Without even thinking she said, "My Dad used to take me hunting, I always loved going out there. Communing with nature, it was almost like coming home you know? Being in the wilds, seeing all the animals in their habitat.

"We used to hunt, he taught me to track almost anything, how to stay hidden when you're on it's trail, how to kill it as quickly as possible."

Hedwig's eyes were bright and wide, "That sounds fun."

"It was" Casey replied and placed her drawing in front of him, "There you go."

There was a beat where he stared at the drawings and said ,"Wow."

She couldn't hold back a laugh before imitating his grave voice, "I know."

Luckily he laughed too.

"I'm hungry." Hedwig finally announced after a about 2 more drawings, this time of a deer and a rabbit.

"What do you usually eat?" Casey asked, looking up from their projects.

"I'm only allowed to used the microwave." Hedwig confessed, "Sometime I eat leftovers from the others but usually I just eat hot dogs."

Casey frowned, "Do you think Ms. Patricia would be OK with me making you something? I mean, I'm a lot older and Dennis let me cook something earlier."

Impossibly Hedwig grew even more joyous, "Yeah! Yeah! I'm sure it's OK!"

Together they made their way to the kitchen, Casey leading the way and Hedwig chattering behind her about all the things he wanted to eat.

Reaching the Kitchen, Casey began taking stock of what was there. Deciding on something simple, Casey took out a couple of Italian sausages that were brown and serve, as well as a jar of spaghetti sauce from the cupboard and a box of noodles.

"How's spaghetti sound?" Casey asked Hedwig who had excitedly plopped himself onto the table.

"Good! I love spaghetti!" He cheered.

"OK I'll make it if you sit down on a chair, you shouldn't sit on the table Hedwig," She informed him, "It's rude and you could break it."

The boy sighed, put upon, but obeyed.

Turning around Casey got to work on the simple meal. It was almost mournful work, she after all had been forced into the role of chef and while she didn't exactly enjoy cooking like some did, it was busy work that kept her mind off of her life and her Uncle.

The more work there was the less she had to think about it, so Casey frequently made meals from close to scratch and had come to feel that this type of spaghetti making wasn't quite up to snuff.

But it was what she had on hand so she whipped it up as best she could. Making sure to break the noodles in three. Hedwig was 9, and while he had an adult body if he didn't chew the whole noodle he could still choke and she wasn't going to deal with that on her conscience.

After everything was prepared she served up her spaghetti and chopped up sausages to both of them.

As she had predicted Hedwig tried to speed eat, "Slow down." Casey frowned at him, "It's not a contest and even though i broke the noodles up you could still choke so chew your food."

Hedwig nodded and slowed down, chewing more. It was funny, Casey realized, each of them were so different, yet shared a body. They were so different that Casey had almost easily changed her behavior for each of them.

After he finished, Casey sent him off almost without a thought, to have him wash his face and clean up.

Immediately after the boy left the room she took to cleaning the dishes. By the time she heard the door to the kitchen open again she had finished washing all the pots and plates and was scrubbing the sink.

"You're good at that" Dennis' voice chimed through the kitchenette and Casey stopped scrubbing to face him.

He was wearing his standard attire she noted, "I used to clean my Uncles house to keep my mind from things, I'd cook for the same reason."

"I appreciate you feeding Hedwig," Dennis crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the room, "He isn't allowed to even touch the stove, and has eaten some very strange things when no one else is around."

"It wasn't a problem." She assured and went back to cleaning the sink, "He's a pretty good kid and my Dad used to make me the same thrown together spaghetti and sausages when he worked late. It was kind of nice having it again."

She could feel Dennis' eyes on her back, the Gaze almost felt approving.

Finishing the sink she tossed the rags into the dirty rag bucket she'd found beneath the sink when she had looked for the cleaners.Then Casey turned to find Dennis still watching her.

"Patricia told me about The Beast." Casey informed him, "What do you think about him?"

"He's the only hope for us, for Kevin." Dennis supplied.

Kevin was a new name to her, "Kevin?"

"He's, in the simplest terms I can use, the original. This is his body we all share." Dennis explained, "We all keep him safe and I think The Beast is the only way to do it now."

"Why?" She pressed, "Why these girls?" she almost asked 'why me' but stopped herself, they had already explained that she was a mistake, there was no need to bring it up again.

Dennis examined her and Casey felt like he was looking straight through her as he spoke, "If you were asked to choose someone impure for The Beast to feed on, who would you choose?"

The image of her Uncle flashed through her head and instead of answering stayed silent.

"You thought of someone." Dennis cut to the quick, "I can tell, who was it?"

Casey answered plainly, "My Uncle, the one who hurt me."

"There was a pair of Girls from a school in New Jersey." Dennis started, seemingly on a tangent, "They were on a field trip where we work. Barry was in charge still then. The two of them came up to him and they hurt him.

"Those two girls, the ones we brought you with, I followed them for four days. They're cut from the same clothe as the two who hurt Barry."

Suddenly it was like the floor was the ceiling and the universe shifted, something in her grew sharp, "Why Marcia and Claire though?"

"I don't." Dennis paused to gather himself and shuffled his feet, "I don't wanna hurt nobody. We had to pick someone though so we chose two people that were for sure impure.

"You know I almost didn't believe it, I almost gave up on The Beast, but Patricia was right. You're proof he's real.

"I'm not worried anymore, not really. The Beast will have Gifts, like you and he'll protect all of us."

Its shaking her soul, every word that comes out his mouth is making her confusion sharp and her throat burn, "Why not go after the actual girls? Marcia and Claire are innocent. "

 

Dennis' gaze is level and steel when he says, "It doesn't matter. Impure girls like them are all the same. They're everywhere and they may not have been the ones who did it but at the end of the day they don't matter. They don't know suffering and they'll never reach their full potential. "

Casey closed her eyes at the rush of anger. Its sickening the rage boiling in her belly.

Claire and Marcia were privileged and thoughtless, Claire more so because of her blonde hair and pale skin. But they weren't cruel, they had never abused anyone, sure they lived in their own little world but the two of them never bullied anyone, they were only guilty of being a little to out of touch.

"Those girl who hurt you." Casey kept her voice steady, "Maybe they do deserve to be punished for what they did. It was wrong and deliberately cruel.

"But Claire and Marcia are not them, they've never hurt anybody. The most they've ever been was thoughtless, never cruel."

"But they could." Dennis replied, "Thoughtlessness leads to selfishness, and selfishness leads to cruelty.

"Only the broken are capable of truly understanding what the world is truly like. People like us, we need to stick together and make sure no one is ever hurt by people like them."

It felt like going in circles, Casey agreed with some of it. People like her uncle, those girls who hurt Barry, they deserved retribution enacted against them . They deserved to be flayed alive by the devil himself.

But not people like Claire and Marcia. Casey would be lying to say that she had never wished that people like them knew what her suffering was like, but she never really meant it. What she really wished is that she had never suffered at all.

She could understand it though, wanting to help people who understood your suffering. That sounded like a dream. But hurting people who's only crime was ignorance? It wasn't right.

If they went after actual criminals, abusers, maybe she could support it. But not this.

"I understand." Casey confessed that much to him and did her best to send a wave of it, "Helping people like us, that's something I can support."

She left it at that though, after all Casey couldn't afford to lay all of her cards on the table, not right now.


	9. Paradise In Her Mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop longest chapter yet

While Dennis was escorting Casey back to her room, Patricia made a sudden appearance.  
"Hold on Dear!" The Woman chimed as they walked their route. Patricia then paused and removed Dennis' glasses only to tuck them into his shirt pocket, "We must make a small detour."

It was strange seeing Patrica dressed as Dennis, almost jarring. Nevertheless Casey wasn't one to be rattled so easily. So, she followed the woman down to the entry way of the room that she had first arrived in.  
"Ah yes!" Patricia cooed, as she began sorting through some of the clothing in the room. Casey watched as the woman hummed almost absently, finally, Patricia gathered some clothes and folded them into a neat pile.

"Alright, we're ready." Patricia smiled, "Let us away back to your room now!"

"You're not going to change?" Casey asked slowly, wondering the purposed of the stop but not quite sure how to ask.

"Oh no my Dear!" The Woman replied, "Dennis will be back soon so there's no need for that."

Casey nodded and curiously eyed the clothing before finally resuming her route back to her room.

They entered easily and Patricia once again changed the script, "Now, now! You go to the bathroom and hand me your clothes through the door, we'll need to wash them, but for now you can wear the outfit I've just chosen for you."

Casey inhaled sharply and then glanced once more at the suspicious pile of clothes. She had been hauling her butter knife with her everywhere just in case. She didn't exactly trust any hiding spaces in her room.

Now she did't know if her new clothes would be capable of concealing it. In the end she had no choice. Casey once again nodded and made her way into the bathroom. Undressing she tried to make a quick decision regarding her pilfered knife and finally decided to hide it in the toilet's tank for the time being.

Gently she lifted the lid off the tank and laid the knife into it gently so as not to make a clattering noise.

With her dry hand she gathered her dirty clothing and handed it to Patricia through the door.

"I know this must all be strange dear," Patricia consoled through the door, "But Dennis is going to leave in order to meet The Beast tonight and we cannot risk your final judgment, he may not know you and you must be wearing something that will show him the proof of your purity."

Casey started the shower and tried no to let the information sour her stomach. That meant the clothing she was to put on would be revealing enough to show her stomach and arms.  
"I will see you again, hopefully when all is done." Patricia continued, her excitement for what was to come evident. Then the woman parted and Casey was sure that if the shower had not been on, she would have heard the lock on the door tumbling.

It was under the warms spray of the shower that Casey came to the realization that this was it.  
Patricia said Dennis was going to leave in order to meet The Beast that very night. This was the moment she had been waiting for all this time. The moment that she would be given time to put a plan into motion.

Rinsing her hair she put together all the pieces that she had in order to create a solid escape plan.

She knew for a fact that Claire was being kept up the hall and past the kitchen, Casey could really only hope that Marcia would be nearby. Claire was her best bet past that point since she had seemed to get further out on her initial escape attempt.

They would all have to work fast and find their way out before they could find out if The Beast was real or not.

There was a traitorous part of Casey's mind that interrupted her thoughts as she turned off the water. It whispered treasonous things like: Why don't you wait to find out?

Because the issue remained, if The Beast wasn't real, what was she? Was she a freak? A Monster? Or some delusional girl who thought she had powers because someone had told her she did?

But the fact was her powers had been felt by both Dennis and Patricia. Casey closed her eyes as she fully remembered that day in the kitchen with her Uncle

He'd hit her later after that episode, then he'd finally raped her in her own bed.

In the kitchen though, he'd fully intended to take whatever innocence she'd had left but he'd stopped. Uncle John had stopped and he had been screaming like someone had stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

Casey had convinced herself all these year's she'd hurt him, kicked him, fought back even. But she wasn't the kind to fight back, not then, she was the kind to freeze and just comply until it was over. There was no escaping.

But now she had a feeling, that if she really did have powers, that she knew exactly what she had done to the man. Perhaps on that day Casey had fought back without even knowing it.

The knowledge will only matter if she ever got out, Dennis and Patricia were unaffected after all. It was likely The Beast would be unaffected by her power too.

 

Taking a steadying breath, Casey grabbed the clothes Patricia had provided.  
It was a mustard yellow linen dress that hit her ankles. No sleeves were present and it was split in the front all the way up to where the bottom of her sternum would be by an embroidered sunflower.

Along side the dress she found royal purple leggings and matching yellow ballet shoes.

There was a level of trepidation that came with dawning attire that would blatantly show off her scars, but something in Casey grew sharp as she thought of who she was before her time in this place.

Her time with Dennis, who for all his terrifying faults, had done his best to apologize for his actions towards her, Patricia who had been nothing but kind with a hard edge the woman was like unbending steel, and Hedwig who had been full of joy in a way only a child could be.

Casey hoped to at least take a piece of them with her when she left, from Dennis she would take his willingness to apologize and strive for better, from Patricia she would remember always to temper your kindness with a sharp blade, and finally she hoped to take Hedwig's ability to be happy in all activities.

Carefully, Casey slipped into her new clothing and went to the bathroom to grab her butter knife.

  
\--  
\--

 

Dennis had made his way up and out of his home, the made a beeline for the gates. It wasn't until he was about to locked up that he realized a cab had pulled up and someone familiar was exiting.

"Hey this place is closed!" The Cabbie shouted, no doubt referring to his darkened place of work.

Dr. Fletcher in all green and black waved the Cabbie off and approached Dennis saying, "Dennis, I came because I was worried.  
"One of the others just emailed me. Is everything alright?"

Dennis exhaled in order to calm himself, "We're fine."

"Dennis, Kevin is lucky to have you." Dr. Fletcher spoke urgently, "You are extraordinary

" I just don't want any of you getting hurt and I had to come check on you."

Halting his movements Dennis weighed his options then relented to the good Doctor, "you think we're extraordinary?"

"I like you Dennis, I know you want to tell me something." She coaxed, "Can we talk?"

They made their way back down the winding path all the way to his home. Dennis brought her into the sitting room.

"I please sit, We hardly have visitors ." Dennis explained as he prepared a place for her to sit, "Would you like something to drink? I'll get you some water."

Dr. Fletcher accepted water and he also brought her a plate of fruit, he continued, "They've got a proper quarters for us us y'know, on the south side. We just prefer it down here."

"We're both very similar, you and I." Dennis sat across from the Psychiatrist, "Both on the outside looking in.

"Who are you going to meet?" Dr. Fletcher posed the question curiously but Dennis knew what he wanted to talk about.

"I want to talk about Kevin, and what his mother did to him." The man explained, "I'm the one who remembers it all."

"I'm glad you've decided to open up." She replied.

"Kevin's mother had rather malevolent way's of punishing a three year old." He continued.

"Is that when you arrived in the light?" Dr. Fletcher asked.

Dennis gave a soft affirmation, "The one way to avoid her attention was to keep everything spotless, everything had to be perfect."

"I know you're coming from a place that Cares," The woman assured, "But I want you to know there are other ways to help Kevin now.

"I've lost so many patients to the system, and I want you to know that I will never stop fighting for you.

"All of my patients have become my family, I've chosen this over a more traditional life.

"I hope that you feel comfortable enough to be truly honest with me."

Dennis felt a wealth of comfort at the words, "I actually want to be honest with you. I lied before." He finally confessed, "When you asked if I had ever met The Beast, I said no. That wasn't true.

"Y'know you wrote about a woman in Germany who had been blind for 10 years, but then it was discovered she had D.I.D. and three of her identities developed sight.

"You said that because her brain believed that she could see, that it regenerated her optic nerves."

Dr. Fletcher's face was confused as she asked, "What are you trying to say Dennis?"

"There are things," He smiled, his mind thinking of what the beast could do, what Casey could do, "That all of us would find hard to believe."

"Are you trying to tell me there is a 24th Identity?" The woman's voice seemed lost.

"You protect the broken," Dennis explained, "When you said that we were extraordinary I thought that, maybe you could understand."

"Understand what?" She seemed so carefully curious that Dennis was careful as he replied,

"The Beast. Is. Real." Dennis felt a his confidence rise, "He's just emerged, you were right about everything."

"What does he look like?" Dr. Fletcher pressed.

"He's bigger than me," Dennis explained, "and I'm the biggest out of all of us, he's tall, very muscular and he's got a long mane of hair. His fingers are twice the length of ours.

"He believes we're extraordinary. That we are not a mistake, but we represent our potential.

"You say the same things, now he's on the move."

"What does that mean?" She frowned, "He can't be real. There has to be limits to what a human being can become.

"And there is another part isn't' there? About the eating of the Impure Young?"

Her tone was growing incredulous, and Dennis' hope was dwindling as she continued, "What does 'Impure' even mean?"

"We should discuss it so you and understand fully." Dennis tried to convince her.

"Understand what?" Dr. Fletcher pressed.

"Sometimes." Dennis replied, "There's just no other way."

Once again, Dr. Fletcher asked, this time more carefully, "Who are you going to meet?"

Dennis continued his spree of honesty, "Him."

Suddenly, Dr. Fletcher smiled brightly, "You know what? I'd love to discuss this more.

"Perhaps I can gather up what you've said and put together a few more question, this is truly interesting Dennis."

Relief flooded through him as he responded, "Really? You're OK with this?"

She nodded and said, "This has been so wonderful, you being so open. I can see you feel very empowered by the philosophies of the beast.  
I'm going to go now and get read to discuss this more in proper session tomorrow."

"I knew you would understand us." Dennis breathed, relief in every word,"I'll see you."

Dr. Fletcher rose and began to leave, then at the door hesitated, "Um, before I go would it be OK if I used your bathroom?"

"Not at all." Dennis replied, It's down the hall, next to the stairs on your left."

Dennis listened to her steps as they slowly walked down the hall and paused, he anticipated the sound of a door opening but it didn't come. Instead her steps grew closer as if she was coming back up the hall.

It was then he heard the sound of a latch and disappointment flooded through him as the sound of one of the girl's voices crept its way up the hall into his ears.

Dennis moved immediately, entering the hall he saw Dr. Fletcher covering her mouth, sobbing. Steeling himself, he knew what he had to do.

He slammed the door as the blonde girl in her room cried out, "Please help me."  
Then he spun The Psychiatrist around, he hoped that one last attempt to explain would help her see, "They will never reach their full potential."

"This is a crime!" Dr. Fletcher cried out, "This is wrong Dennis!"

"The don't really matter." He countered, willing her to listen.

"I should have listened better." Dr. Fletcher replied, "I should have understood what you were capable of.

"How powerful you are."

"Patricia says your way isn't working." Dennis replied, repeating it like a mantra, "This way, the world will understand now."

"These young women are suffering," She was practically whispering, "This is wrong and I can't let you keep them here.

"we have to stop this! This identity is monstrous."

All hope for Dr. Fletcher fled his heart these young girls had no idea what suffering was, "I'm really sad you feel this way."

"Can't you see," She cried, "He is formed because of your time in this place."

Dennis though, refused to listen to anymore she had to say, grabbing his yellow cloth, he covered his mouth and sprayed her with his bottle of chloroform and caught her before she could fall.

He didn't want to hurt her, no, she was still the person who had helped them the most. So he carried her and placed her on the couch.

Even with all of this, he couldn't afford to have her wake up and free the girls, worse go to the police and give them all up. Not longer was she just hurting them and Kevin, but Casey too would be taken back to the home that had broken her.

That just meant they had to be all the more swift on their mission. Dennis quickly made his way back up to the gates, it was time to meet their destiny. It was time begin their path to protect Kevin completely.

 

\--  
\--

 

Feeling she had waited a sufficient amount of time, Casey went to the bookshelf and grabbed the biggest hardcover from the shelf and approached her own door.

Practically tip toeing across her room floor Casey pressed her ear to the door. She could not hear any voices and Desperately, Casey hoped that by now Dennis was long gone.

She swallowed thickly and desperately hoped that what she was about to do would work.

Taking the butter knife, Casey  pressed the tip of it into the edge of the face of the deadbolt, firmly with one hand she grasped the handle of the knife. In her other hand the hardcover book was pulled back and in one swing, she pounded it into the hilt of the knife.

It took around 3 solid hits, but finally the face of the Deadbolt lock popped off to reveal the mechanism inside. Carefully she pressed the butter knife inside the cam slot and pushed it back causing the lock to unlatch.

Casey felt a rush of excitement and practically wanted to whoop for joy. Instead she pulled the knife out and used it to jimmy open the less intimidating knob-lock by pressing the blade into the door jam and popping the door opened.

And Open it did, suddenly she was on the threshold of her room all alone and she did the only thing she could do, Casey gripped the knife in her hand tightly and began running down the hall as quickly as she could.

She didn't know what she was looking for but by god she was going to find it.  
Before she knew it she was passing the kitchen and suddenly Casey was upon a sitting room she'd never seen before. Inside there was an older woman who seemed to be struggling to get up off of the couch.

Acting quickly Casey bolted over to her, "Are you OK?! Is Dennis here?!"

The woman shook her head softly and tried to speak, her voice hoarse, "Say..."  
She paused and Casey was trying to understand. The woman tried again, "Say his name... It's Kevin..."

Frustrated and not knowing how to help Casey began looking around the room, the older woman finally spoke again, "Wendell Crumb...."

Her attention snapped back to the half conscious woman, Casey repeated her, "Kevin Wendell Crumb?"

The woman nodded slowly then said, "The Girls.... Hall..."

Casey's eyes snapped to the hall and she saw the closet doors had latches on them. Taking a sharp breathe she cursed herself for not taking notice earlier and passing them over with her adrenaline rushed mind.

Turning back to the woman Casey moved to cross the room and help her sit up, "I'm going to get you out of here too OK?"

Then a voice sounded from behind her, "No you will not."

Casey turned to find a familiar yet unfamiliar man. He seemed tense, pulsing with power, veins scattered across his shirtless form. His voice had been almost unearthly and he was now climbing the wall and across the ceiling. Effortlessly he dropped between them.

His eyes seemed to register Casey first, his emotions were intense and hyper focused. Unlike Dennis, this man was a predator through and through.

The Beast, because that's the only person he could  be,  focused on her and made to rush her.

Casey took a wide stance, bracing for impact, then suddenly he stopped inches from her. His eyes blown so wide they were black with only a small outline of blue from the iris.

Her scars, his gaze traced the ones on her shoulders, and the collection spattered across her belly.

Then slowly he brought his face impossibly close to hers, his joy pounded through her.

"You are pure, you have suffered through this world and become broken by it. You have purified yourself in suffering, you know pain." His voice practically echoed and she almost wanted to cry at the full force of his words, because somehow as he gazed at her scars he was filled with untempered awe at her.

His face grew closer as he leaned into her space. Then suddenly, without any warning, the woman who had been half conscious on the couch came at him from behind with what seemed like a small blade.

He gave a mighty growl and reared back at the attack, violently The Beast turned to the woman. Casey noted his back was unscathed.

The Beast then grabbed her wrist with one hand, her throat was griped by the other.

"NO!" Casey screamed, he stopped and cast a glance over his shoulder.

"Stop!" Casey cried again, "Don't hurt her! She's just afraid!"

"Good." He hissed, "She is a threat, she does not believe."

Casey shook her head, "You don't have to kill her!"

He began squeezing her throat, and the woman's eyes found Casey's, her desperation clear.

Casey acted, "Kevin Wendell Crumb!"

She screamed the name and he dropped the woman on the couch. The older woman clenched her throat and gasped as he stumbled back.

Again Casey shouted, "Kevin Wendell Crumb!"

The man stumbled, his demeanor  softened, and finally looked at her, then the woman, "What's going on? Who are you?"

Casey sighed as he looked at the woman, "What happened to you Dr. Fletcher?! Did I hurt you?! Oh my god."

Dr. Fletcher seemed to be regaining more of her faculties as she hoarsely said, "Go get the other girls!"

"Other girls?!" Kevin cried, he then looked at Casey, "Wait!"

Casey made to go back into the hall but stopped to look at him.

"If this is what I think it is... Then do me a favor? Kill me." Kevin begged, it was so desperate Casey almost sobbed for him, "There's a gun at the bottom of the bookshelf, and there's bullets in my work locker."

Dr. Fletcher heaved, "Kevin stay here."

But he didn't, a female voice Casey did not recognizes suddenly came from his mouth and, "NO! Don't! He can't handle reality! I'm Jade and thank god Dr. Fletcher is here! She can help!"

Casey moved, she ran to the hall and unlatched both of the doors, swinging them opened as a new male voice shouted after her, "Where are you going?! Baby Girl?! Please! I'm Barry! The group can work this out."

Throwing opened the two doors, Casey found Marcia and Claire seemingly hopeless and sitting on the floor, "Get on your feet let's go! I don't think we have much time!"

Marcia's eyes widened at the turn of events and Claire bolted up, "OH MY GOD CASEY?!"

"Let's go!" Casey screamed, and ran back into the sitting room where Dr. Fletcher was standing hands out in front of another Identity Casey didn't recognize.

The man sounded like he was ranting as Dr. Fletcher tried to calm him, "Steady now, you need to focus on keeping the light so we can sort this!"

Casey dove to the bookshelf as Claire and Marcia took in what probably looked to them like a  very strange scene.

"What the hell are you doing Casey?! and What the hell are you wearing?!" Marcia asked as Casey finally found the gun.

"I can work with this!" Casey crowed  and Dr. Fletcher looked back at her, "NO! You will not!"

The woman frowned, "We can get this under control!"

"You can't control The Beast!" This voice Casey did recognize, it was childish and sounded rather smug.

"Hedwig don't do this." Casey coaxed, Dr. Fletcher looked at the boy then to Casey.

"You guys are so afraid! They won't make fun of me anymore!" Hedwig argued.

"Marcia, Claire. "Casey spoke quieter this time to the girls on her side of the room, "Run and find a locker labelled 'Crumb' there will be ammo for this."

"You mean it's not loaded?!" Claire hissed and Marcia joined, "Do you even know how to use that thing?!"

"GO" Casey growled and pushed them with some motivation, "Hedwig can control who takes the light and he's not going to give it to Jade or Barry."

Dr. Fletcher's surprise burst through the room as she turned back to Hedwig, but the boy was no longer there. In his place Patricia stood.

Betrayal and sadness rolled off of her, "Casey, I had hoped you understood."

Dr. Fletcher's eyes widened at Casey. The younger woman replied, "I do. And I agree, people like us need to protect each other, but not like this. Marcia and Claire, hell I doubt Dr. Fletcher did anything wrong."

Patricia sneered at the Doctor who was now inching her way closer to Casey. The woman Casey had come to admire sighed, "They are Impure and the Beast will feed on them all. Next time the offering will be even greater, I had hoped you would join us my Dear."

"Not as long as you're hurting innocent people Patricia, if it were people like my Uncle, real monsters, maybe I could accept it but not like this." Casey cried and tried to convey her conviction.

Patrica was genuinely saddened, "it seems we just cannot agree, a tragedy, The Beast will feed regardless."

The transformation began again and Casey turned to Dr. Fletcher, "Can you run?"

After the Doctor responded with a head shake, she managed to wheeze, "Go, I'll buy you time. Get those other girls out."

Casey would have argued, but Dr. Fletcher seemed to be trying so hard to be fearless, despite the ice cold dread she felt.

So, respecting the woman's wishes she ran. Casey ran and closed her eyes as the woman's scream rang out.

Marcia and Claire were digging through lockers when Casey came upon them and even though Dr. Fletcher had bought them a moment, Casey could already feel the feral hunger of The Beast crawling closer.

"I've got it!" Marcia cried pulling out a box of bullets.

"Alright give them to me!" Casey urged, "You two have to keep moving!"

The Beast's feral growling could be heard and as Casey glanced back to the hall, she could see him on the ceiling, making his way ever closer and smashing the lights.

"You can't just stay here!" Claire shouted, her disbelief was powerful. Casey loaded the shotgun, cocked it and aimed it towards the man on the ceiling.

"Go now, get out of here, I'll be right behind you." Casey sent as much confidence as she could and the the other two girls, while reluctant, ran.

Casey aimed as steadily as she could in the low light, her nervousness not born of fear but uncertainty.

Dennis, Patricia, and Hedwig, their primary beliefs were so good, how could she bring herself to harm them? They had been as kind as they could to her under the circumstances hadn't they? She had understood them just as they understood her.

Perhaps in another life she could have loved all of them.

It was haunting and beautiful to see The Beast crawl across the hallway ceiling and when he dropped in front of her he growled, "Let me have them!"

"I don't want to hurt you!" Casey choked out, her heart was in her throat, "But I will!"

He reached for the gun as if to grab it and she turned the muzzle down, Casey pulled the trigger and shot him in the thigh.

The Beast Instantly recoiled but unexpectedly, he then surged forward and yanked the gun from her hands, "You cannot hurt me with this gun!"

His voice reverberated and Casey hoped that shooting him did not damage her protected status.

Recklessly The Beast tossed the gun aside and it discharged down the hall away from them. The Beast then grabbed her by the waist and lifted her like a doll before shoving her in a locker.

"You will not get in my way!" He urged and shut the door before taking off once again after the other two girls.

Casey finally screamed in frustration. Tears tore down her face as she kicked at the locker door, her feet aiming towards the latch.

It took what felt like an age as she struggled, but finally the locker burst opened and Casey practically fell out. Feeling the urgency, she scrambled in the dark for the riffle.

A Scream shot out from down the hall as Casey finally found her query.

Tears still running down her face Casey tore down the hall with her gun and reloaded it.

As she drew closer to the scream had come from Casey found Marcia dead on the floor, her stomach ripped opened as if she'd been mauled.

Casey swallowed down her guilt, her rage at herself for being unable to get to the other girl in time.

Straightening  her spine Casey continued to run, Claire after all was sill alive, hopefully.

When she reached them, Claire was huddled on the floor and the Beast was walking towards her slowly, almost mockingly as he spoke, "You have always been protected and in the light. No harm has ever touched you and you are impure, unstained and unbroken.

"Those who have suffered, the broken, they are more evolved. They are the children who will survive all reckonings."

Casey lifted her shotgun and shot fired, hitting him point blank in the left shoulder.

The Sound was deafening as he curled forward in pain. Casey ran past The Beast as he gathered himself.

Then making one more radically self sacrificing decision, Casey grabbed a dazed Claire by the arm and shoved her into what seemed like a cage at the end of the entire section.

"I told you to run!" Casey cried out, then proceeded to lock Claire in.

"Casey!" Claire shouted, suddenly shaken from her stupor, "No! You should have locked yourself in here too! This place is a dead end! He'll kill you!"

Casey could feel the Blonde's undiluted fear, she could feel The Beast's frustration and pain.

Resolutely she steeled herself and cocked the gun, she reached deep inside herself and found the feeling she had been most conflicted over during almost her entire time in captivity in this place and sent it straight to The Beast.


	10. And She Is More Than Perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is then end for now! Thanks for keeping up with this and I hope to write a sequel surrounding glass that goes off the rails 
> 
> Side note: in the last chapter the way Casey escaped the dead bolt is possible except you'd need something smaller like a screwdriver to move the cam slot...... so there's that....

Claire Benoit sat, after everything that had happened, her body felt frozen.

Nothing made a single ounce of sense and a part of her wished that she could go back to the time before. She wished that she'd celebrated her birthday somewhere else, because maybe then Marcia would still be alive.

She wished that they had left earlier, maybe then he wouldn't have been there to take them from her Father's car.

There were so many things Claire wished were different.

The police buzzed around them, cordoning off the area with their tape, the ambulance sirens were practically white noise against the buzzing in Claire's ears. After all Casey had shot that monster point blank and right in front of Claire herself.

Claire's eye's had taken in what was practically a small pop up village in the middle of the Philadelphia Zoo.

The Zoo, they'd been kept under the Zoo and no one had known, no one had even suspected, that they could have been suffering just beneath what must have been dozens of kids on field trips as well as hundreds of families on vacation.

In the end Claire's eyes would always end up back on the bundle of brown that was Casey Cooke curled in on herself. The other girl's long mahogany hair a stark contrast against the khaki color of a Zoo Employee's coat.

"Claire Benoit?" A voice called snapping the girl's attention to the officer who spoke. It was a petite woman with kind eyes and a badge that read 'Stewardson'.

"Your parents are here." the officer smiled, Claire searched just beyond the officer and found them.

Her Father and Mother's eyes zeroed in on her and they ran. Claire stood and followed suite.

They crashed into each other, tears began stinging at the corner's of the girl's eyes as the unadulterated joy at seeing her parents filled her.

Both of her parent embraced her tightly, she could hear both of them weeping as they spoke.

"Oh my god my baby girl! My baby is OK!" Her Mother cried out joyously.

Her Father joined in, "Claire, my little girl! You're safe! You're here!

"I'm so proud of you, you're so strong! I'm so glad your safe!"

She couldn't hold back the sobs that escaped her chest, her happiness and relief to be with her parents was too much, "It wasn't me!"

It was to much, "I would have died if it wasn't for Casey!"

Her parents pulled away and looked at her, Claire couldn't tell if they were confused or just content to have their family  back together.

The man's eyes swiveled and landed on the same brown bundle Claire had been fixated on just before their reunion, "Are her parents on their way?"

Claire sobbed again.

How was she supposed to look at Casey knowing? Knowing what she saw?

The Memory was burned into her mind, and it probably would be forever.

Claire's throat was still sore from screaming, "Casey! No! You should have locked yourself in here too! He'll kill you!"

Casey Cooke, the girl she had written off as full of hot air then turned her back to the cage that she had locked Claire into.

Quickly the girl with Mahogany hair Cocked the shotgun she'd been wielding and aimed it at the monster of a man who had rose from the floor. Claire's mind was running wild.

How could he have survived Casey's shot to his shoulder?!

Casey's breath then slowed and Claire was suddenly filled with an emotion that was not her own.

Her breath calmed and her pulse slowed, her racing heart began beating at it's regular pace. Claire was suddenly filled with an eerie calm, but it was so much more than that.

It felt like whenever her Mother hugged her, the feeling of her Dad telling her 'I'm so proud.'

A smile from her grandma and the 'Congratulations!' of her entire family when she got into her college of choice.

Acceptance. Joy. Love.

That's what it was a glow of acceptance filled her.

"Why?!" The Man shouted barbarically, his voice reverberating through the cavernous underground, "Why would you choose an impure over your own?!"

"These feeling, these are what i feel for all of you!" Casey replied, her voice watery, "If she was a monster, like my Uncle I would have helped you! But she's innocent! She's never hurt anyone!"

"She is impure!" Their Captor came closer and Casey unloaded the gun, then proceeded to cast it aside.

"I don't want to fight you! I'm not going to shoot you gain! I don't want to hurt any of you! But if you want Claire, you're going to have to go through me! If my shotgun won't work then I'll fight you with my bare hands!" Casey cried out,

The Man then froze and stared at her, "You must accept her impurity, it is no different than killing a monster."

"Not everyone can be like us!" Casey argued emphatically, "And not everyone who isn't is like my Uncle! The world has so much grey!

"I care about you! But I can't let you hurt the people who've done nothing wrong! Not when there are so many people out there who are cruel and evil on purpose!"

The air was no longer warm then, and Claire's breath caught in her throat as she was suddenly filled with so much sadness. Not being able to take it Claire wobbled then fell to her knees, unbidden tears that weren't her own began forming, sobs clamored their way up her throat.

Her hands were shaking as she stared at Casey and the Man who took them, they both seemed unaffected by the sudden madness that had befallen her.

Through her tears, Claire could see the Man as he came closer to Casey, his eyes soft as he approached her. Casey stiffened and Claire wanted to cry out but her throat was too tight from the suffocating sadness that had settled in her chest.

The Monster of a man then placed both of his hands on Casey's face, Claire was sure he was bout to snap her neck.

But then, ever so softly, he rested his forehead against her's.

The sadness was suddenly gone and replaced with the warm feeling of home and welcome from before as Casey placed her hands on his chest and sobbed,

"Take me if you have to, but I can't let you do this, it's wrong, I won't let you continue to make this mistake."

"Hush Dear One." His unearthly voice rang like a wind through the forest, "I shall let you have her, on your grace she lives. But in the future, I will simply go around you."

Casey continued to cry and nod as they stayed there, pressed together in a sick imitation of intimacy. Claire couldn't close her eyes or turn away from it.

Slowly he pulled away and and then slipped into the shadows. Casey inched backwards until her back hit the bars of the cage. Claire watched frozen as the other girl slid down the bars, onto the floor and then sobbed as if the world was ending.

 

\--  
\--

 

In another life Casey Cooke could have probably began to love Kevin Wendell Crumb and all that he brought with him.

In another life Casey Cooke could have convinced herself to stay with The Beast and try to sway him from killing innocents.

But this was not those lives.

In this life she cried and let the tears flow as he walked away, he let her live, he let her keep Claire.

In this life they were found by a maintenance worker from the Philadelphia Zoo that was just above them

In this life she looked into the eyes of Officer Powell and said, "I'm not going back to my Uncle, I didn't survive this just to go back into the house of the man who's molested me since i was 5."

 

She was taken immediately out of his custody and into the foster system. The house Casey Cooke had been placed into was with several younger children. The agent assigned to her case said it was temporary, they would find her a new house to live in with a suitable  family. 

But she was better at this now, she could feel the doubt, resignation, and pity in his soul. Casey Cooke would be forced to stay at her temporary home for the 2 months it would take her to age out of the system and her agent was almost  glad for it.

She was a problem that could get rid of itself.

The Foster Parents she had been temporarily assigned were glad for the checks but acted cautious around her, like she was a wild animal that would rip into their children if they let her alone with them.

She was left to fend for herself and remained out of the house until curfew.

They feared her, the version of the story Claire had told was gruesome and didn't paint her in the best light. Casey swallowed it down.

The Blonde girl was just afraid, she'd been afraid, Casey was the only one who had abandoned fear in that place.

She had traded it for the respect of Dennis, Patricia, the Beast himself. Her fear had been payed in for the stirrings of something else.

Acceptance, understanding, what in another life could have probably been love.

Maybe in this life it still was.

On her days spent away from the Foster Family she'd been ungracefully fitted into, Casey would go to places where there were people. The Mall, the Train station, she would watch them and open her senses until she could feel everything they were feeling.

Three weeks after her placement Casey Cooke went to the Train Station and made an unsuspecting grown woman cry.

She hadn't intended to do it. Casey had just been feeling the air as she always had, then she saw a child playing. His mother grabbed him fiercely and scolded him for playing and not sitting still, then the little boy's fear reached Casey.

Casey made the Mother cry.

It felt good.

After that Casey began noticing things, she noticed that some people possessed a low hum of, for lack of a better term, awareness. They were the people who kept their eyes in a swivel, the teens who's legs bounced in anxiety.

The Woman who's depression was not just a small bit of sadness.

There was a type of slumber in everyone else and Casey realized these were the people that The Beast would have considered Impure, the slumbering masses, unawake to their surroundings and the world.

Then there was the third type of person.

She'd felt it the first time she had met Uncle John again after discovering her gift. Facing him down in court she could feel a sickness in him, like an infection of bitterness and and unholy thirsts.

There were people like that in the places she'd sit on some days. People who were the real monsters. Part of her wished she was stronger so that she could stop them. But that wasn't her gift, her gift was to see the world in colors people never even dreamed of.

Casey began to wonder just how many people she could make scream all at once in agony? How many people could she make cry like Claire that day below the Zoo when she said goodbye to The Beast, to Patricia, Dennis and even Hedwig?

There was too many possibilities, too many unknowns, and there was no proper place to test it all.

It was so much, it was too much. She still had so many questions, why did she of all people have this gift?

What was it all for? What should she do with it?

She wasn't strong enough to help people like some sort of vigilante and Casey wasn't evil, she wasn't going to cause mass hysteria just to test the limits of her abilities.

 

Casey Cooke frequently wondered where her life was headed.

It was going a million miles a second and she watched the world as if she was looking at it through a window.

Most girls her age were getting ready for college and she still had no clue where she was going to stay when she aged out of the Foster System.

The girl had no idea who or what she was, her purpose was just as deep a mystery.

Casey found herself sure of only two things:

She had been given the gift to peer into the souls of others. To tell the Black from the White from the Grey.

And She missed feeling like she was understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! See you next time my dudes!!


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